A few days ago, I took my son shoe shopping. It's not the ideal morning activity, but his feet seem to grow every other month. After enduring this task without a fuss, the salesperson offered him a balloon to reward his patience. He chose the pink one.

It seems lately my son is really into the color pink. He likes coloring with pink crayon. When we shopped for a bike helmet, he wanted a shiny pink one sitting on a shelf. Both my husband and the male salesperson insisted that he really wanted the black one. I said nothing.

I feel ambivalent about reinforcing gender roles. I'm not saying I'm completely comfortable with him wearing a pink helmet, but I don't necessarily want him to feel like a color is off-limits, because it's identified as being strictly for little girls.

Even for women, it's hard to shake the perception that pink is somehow frivolous. I like pink, but I don't really wear it. Maybe subconsciously I feel like I won't be taken seriously or that I'm trying too hard to hang on to my youth. How can one color be so loaded with meaning?

Maybe I'm just thinking too much about something that's not really an issue. The salesperson at the shoe store told me she often sees little boys with their toes painted because their mothers have painted toes and they want to do the same. That makes perfect sense to me.  Besides, pink is a fun color. There's no need to discourage my son's preference. I'm sure next month he'll love brown because it's the color of mud. He definitely can't get enough of that stuff.