I wish I hadn’t seen this

Me? I couldn’t wait until Cyber Monday to get going on my online Christmas shopping.

I’ve been doing a bit here and there, getting the jump on The Season.

I’m a bit loath to admit- given my (current) loathing of all things professional football – that my shopping has taken me to the New England Patriots Pro Shop, looking for a little something for a young family member who happens to be A FAN.

While I was clicking through the dozens of possibilities – more than likely selecting the one that he will be least interested in – I came across the Toddler Dream Job Long Sleeve Tee.

The Toddler Dream Job Long Sleeve Tee-Red is great for the young fan in your life. The tee features the body of a cheerleader in a New England Patriots uniform with a small logo on the front. (Source: Patriots Pro Shop)

At first, I thought it was a headless cheerleader, which did make some sort of sense. Then I realized that this is a ‘your head goes here’ sort of shirt.

I don’t think I would have found this so ridiculous if it had been billed as a Patriots Cheerleader Tee.

But dream job? DREAM JOB?

Okay, when you’re wearing a size 2T or 4T you may not actually have a dream job. And you probably don’t have $19.95 to spend on one of these tees, anyway. But the grownup with that $19.95 really should think for a sec or two before putting the idea in a little mind that cheerleading is actually the sort of job you might want to aspire to.

And if your child does say that her dream job is cheerleading, isn’t this the time to tell her that this is really not a job. That cheerleaders get paid squat. That they all do something else. They’re dance instructors. Stuff like that.

Waving the pompoms, sweetie-pie, is just not valued in our society – and with pretty good reason, frankly.

Admittedly, there would be few jobs on the Pats payroll that any kid would want. (Boys get to grab the player dream job shirts.)

Here, honey, I know you’d like to work in the Pats’ front office when you grow up.

But why not team doctor? Or nurse?

Even little kids know who they are.

And here I was, just last week, complaining about the insulting approach Mattel had made to turning Barbie into a computer engineer.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr…….