Mondays are trash day in our neighborhood. Since the time V was a little baby, she’s been obsessed with the recycling truck and the garbage trucks that barrel down the street. Throw in the automated “grab and dump” arm, and my kid was entranced.
It was pretty much the coolest thing she’d ever seen.
On garbage days, her aunt babysat and they’d rush to the window eagerly to watch this mechanical magic. Auntie even found a book about garbage trucks to explore V’s interest more. Today, her ears still perk up as it approaches and she demands to “go see! go see!” the truck.
Quickly after, she began to love other forms of transportation, including airplanes and tractors.
The problem? While we have toys and books to support her interest, clothing options for girls are pretty limited. In this world of digital overload, you’d think it would be easy to find anything you want online. But mainstream retailers and catalogs still heavily feature pastels and hearts and rainbows. Perhaps now more than ever. So if a parent wants to expand a child’s horizons, the onus is on them to seek out those options.
While I have a love-hate relationship with the color pink, the color has acquired a meaning, a set of rules. Pink is now a path to an identity. It’s like a gateway drug on the way to the intravenous princess Kool-aid. The color-coding is out of control!
That’s why Bug and Bear’s opening a few months ago caused so much excitement in this community. Headbands with dinosaurs? Tee shirts with tractors? Feltie hair clips with tools?
I want it! I want it!
(Note: Think or Blue received complimentary product in exchange for my review. The opinions in this review are completely my own, and I take pride in providing honest opinions. I only review products that fit with the Think or Blue community, and that I believe may interest my readers. For full disclosures, click here.)
If you follow Think or Blue on Instagram, you know that I often browse around the boys’ section to avoid the onslaught of hyper-glittered princess paraphernalia. Sometimes there’s a Red Sox tee or fire engine pajamas that my girl will love. But why should I have to browse the boys’ section? When she’s older, she may feel shut off from those options, or avoid them to dodge criticism or bullying.
Bug and Bear Kids originated to solve that exact problem. “There were hundreds of items with flowers, hearts, and the word ‘cute,’ but no trains, trucks or even cars.”
One of the reasons I love Bug and Bear Kids’ stuff is that they don’t shy away from traditionally feminine colors. They take “girl stuff” and throw it on its head. How about some hot pink with your dinosaurs? How about some purple with your dump truck?
Sure, it’s fun to dress V in a hand-me-down navy blue and green tractor shirt from my nephew and chuckle wickedly when the kind neighbor yells “Hey big guy!” to my girl.
Not gonna lie, it actually brings me secret joy.
But I love that she can ALSO reclaim femininity for what it is: a diverse set of interests that may include spaceships or wrenches, along with hot pink and magenta, or bright yellow and blue. 
Look closely and you’ll see that the construction truck has a bit of golden shimmer. And a couple of little hearts are hiding in the dirt. The mix is so fun.
As an ice-breaker with girls, adults comment on their appearance A LOT. I would guess much more often than with boys. I love that Bug and Bear’s products help girls to perhaps turn a conversation from “oh you look so pretty!” to “cool, is that a stegosaurus on your dress?” instead.
This helps girls learn from adults that their appearance isn’t the most important thing. Their interests can take center stage instead.
As a Northeastern dweller, the fact that Bug and Bear Kids operates from Philadelphia and sources all of its material from the U.S is a bonus. The quality is excellent – toddler stumbles and messy lunches won’t ruin these durable clothes. We bought the yellow and purple dump truck tee, which is thick and sturdy. Dresses, their newest additions, are hearty, too.
Not to mention, I love to support female entrepreneurs.
On a chillier, gray day, we also found the dress worked quite well over leggings and sneakers with a light sweater. My girl is gonna rock this dress all through the fall.
Best of all, my kid can look down at her belly to see a cool dump truck just like her toys, and feel accepted for her favorite hobbies.
Girls like dump trucks, too!
If you love these kids’ clothes as much as I do, use the discount code ‘thinkorblue’ for 15% off your first purchase at bugandbearkids.com!!
My daughter’s favorite color is pink. She chose that color herself. My favorite color is blue. But why does every girl toy and doll, etc. have to be in that “pepto bismo” shade of pink. Just walk through the girls’ aisle in the toy section and it’s all the same shade of pink. There are many, many shades of pink. Just as there are many shade of blue. And many shade of every other color, including white, grey and black.
My daughter has a young daughter and I am so thrilled to see that legos and mega blocks now have pink, purple and teal colors. Yes, girls can play and learn through playing with legos and mega blocks. Boys can play with pink, purple and teal colors as well. But, next, I would like to see different shades of yellow, red, blue, pink, purple, teal, etc.
And I am not even a feminist, but I just don’t understand why all the girls’ toys are the same “pepto bismo” shade of pink.