Thursday, September 6th .....

It’s my grand-daughter’s birthday next week, and it was my job to buy a birthday card which we could send to her in Brisbane, probably stuffed with bank notes.  I’m generally lucky in choosing cards and have a pretty good record of picking one with just the right balance of design and verse.  However, I found it particularly hard to select one for Madeleine.

First, every card for females from birth to 85 was pink!!!! Are we mad?  Do we really believe that females are so devoid of individuality that they all have the same favourite colour or is it that females are so conforming they are desperate to show that they ‘belong’ to the group?  Madeleine is not a ‘pink’ girl; she certainly does not fit the characteristics of a person obsessed with pink – twee, insipid, featureless, and so on.

Second most of the cards were illustrated with soft fluffy animals, teddy bear, rabbits, etc.  Or a horse!  Some had impossibly thin girls with short skirts, or umbrellas.  A big selection, obviously for mums or nans, had pictures of bunches of flowers.

Third, the verses were appalling.

There’s a niche available for some entrepreneur who can come up with a selection of birthday cards for females who are individual, strong and adventurous, with messages that are fitting and non-patronising.  Still, I know that Madeleine, like all 17-year olds, will chuck away the card and concentrate on the bank notes.

It makes me think of another pet peeve.  Among all the things that parents need to teach their children, why do they spend so much time on teaching the concept of ‘cute’?  Every time I hear a Mum saying the dreaded sound ‘A-a-a-w’, I cringe waiting for the follow-up, ‘Isn’t it cute!’  What does ‘cute’ mean?  It’s clearly somewhere in the realm of pretty, twee, cuddly, baby-like, vomit-making.  On the ship we’ve just left they had a big sale of stuff from the various shops on board.  One table was covered with little fluffy animals in pastel colours, wearing pyjamas, and funny hats, with big eyes and quizzical expressions.  The interesting thing is that kids were ignoring them until Mum called them back.  ‘Look at this teddy.  Isn’t it cute?’  The kids, who are not stupid, saw an opportunity to suck up to Mum and get her to open her purse, and immediately started to play the game.  ‘Oh, isn’t it precious.  Can I have one, M-u-u-m?  Pl-e-a-s-e!!’

Understanding ‘cute’ is something you learn, and there is no survival value in knowing about it.  Focus on what’s important, parents.  Today’s kids need to know more than we ever did and there’s no room for ‘cuteness’.