LEGO's for ... "Girls"

Today Evan was invited to his friend Mathilde's 6th birthday party.  I'm not sure if you would call Mathilde "girly" because frankly, with three boys at home, all girls seem girly to me.  I was a little nonplussed as to the perfect gift so I decided to go directly to the source, Mathilde's mom.  I was instructed that she would love "anything with glitter".  So ... girly.

Evan and I headed to our favorite store Adventure Toys in Los Altos.  They have a great selection of gorgeous toys and their greatest selling point: they wrap your gifts.  During the drive I decided to ask Evan what he would like to buy for Mathilde.  His answer: LEGO's.  Big surprise.

LEGO's.  It would be an understatement to say that my children love LEGO's.  They have an obsession.  Star Wars is the most popular theme at our house but you name it, we have 'em.  Before I could respond he said, "Girl LEGO's".  <sigh>.   In case you haven't heard, LEGO has released a new set of toys for girls: "Friends". I have two issues with the "Friends" sets. 

1. While the sets are cute they don't offer room for creativity. When I was a kid we had a box of random LEGO's. Here is a roofless house. Here is a roofless school. Here is a roofless grocery store. (We never seemed to have enough panels to make a roof). These days sets are pre-designed which almost completely defeats the purpose.  But I digress. The "Friends" set is no different.  Not only that, they are really stereotypical. Cafe. Beauty Shop. Veterinarian. <snooze>. Bakery. Rock Star Stage. Lounging in the Pool. <what?>. Lounging in the Pool?  At least sets like Alien Conquest have a little imagination! How are budding engineers and architects supposed to gain inspiration from the "Friends" sets?
2. The Ladyfigs are bigger than Minifigs by 5mm.

If Adventure Toys stocks "Friends" LEGO's I didn't see them. Instead I searched high-and-low for something glittery while Evan perused the robot collection.  Glitter craft set.  Nope.  Nail polish and makeup?  Not from this mom.  Dress up clothes?  Hem haw.  In the end we chose an age-appropriate beaded necklace with a mermaid pennant and matching bracelet set.  Girly.

Lesson Learned: When creativity fails, jewelry wins.