Children are not born with toy preferences. We as parents, consumers, and as a society condition our children to engage in activities or to play with toys that supposedly align with their gender; cars and football for boys, dolls and pets for girls. This type of outdated stereotyping is practiced daily at McDonalds. When you order a Happy Meal, the cashier will ask whether you would like a “boy toy or a girl toy.” You are not given the option of the different types of toys and you are not told which toys are available. You make a decision based on a gender stereotype. While this wording may seem trivial, the message we are sending our children is anything but. If a young girl wants to play with an action figure or spy gadgets, she receives the message that she is somehow different, somehow strange, and somehow wrong for wanting to play with a “boy’s toy,” and the same goes for young men. We should not place gender roles onto our children by asking them to choose between a “boy or girl toy” because really, there is no such thing. Toys are toys. Instead, we should present them with their options and allow them to make the choice between a car and a doll based on what they enjoy playing with. Tell McDonalds to stop promoting and disseminating gender stereotypes to our children.