Thanks, Judith, for this-- I also love Free To Be You & Me (and have fond memories of being in a Hebrew language version at Camp Yavneh) and continue to play it (to the annoyance of my husband), but was surprised recently when a friend said that she didn't want her children to have FTBY&M because 1) it's so heteronormative, as you point out and 2) she wasn't interested in her kids learning that there might be an expectation that boys & girls should be different. As you say, the kids will learn it eventually anyway, but I thought this was an interesting observation-- I wonder whether kids whose mommies and daddies are already doctors, teachers, and poetry makers will understand that song, or perhaps start to wonder for the first time why someone needs to point out that mommies & daddies can be anything they want to be.
Thanks, Judith, for this-- I also love Free To Be You & Me (and have fond memories of being in a Hebrew language version at Camp Yavneh) and continue to play it (to the annoyance of my husband), but was surprised recently when a friend said that she didn't want her children to have FTBY&M because 1) it's so heteronormative, as you point out and 2) she wasn't interested in her kids learning that there might be an expectation that boys & girls should be different. As you say, the kids will learn it eventually anyway, but I thought this was an interesting observation-- I wonder whether kids whose mommies and daddies are already doctors, teachers, and poetry makers will understand that song, or perhaps start to wonder for the first time why someone needs to point out that mommies & daddies can be anything they want to be.