baseball hanger

Several years ago, a woman and her two children visited my booth at Piney Woods. The boy, who was maybe 8 or 9 and big into Little League, wanted a baseball item I had. That item was painted like a baseball (similar to this one) except it had a place for a bat and a ball. That child begged for the item but his mom said no.
It wasn't a money thing. The woman was really nice and she did purchase something for her daughter. Later I saw the boy toting a toy sword. Fine, I told myself. Except it wasn't. It really bothered me that his mom wouldn't consider a decorative and useful item that the child wanted.
Later I consulted with a friend. She'd raised a son and I thought maybe she could explain this to me. She couldn't. She'd witnessed the same type of thing and didn't agree or understand it.
Sometimes at Piney Woods people assume all the items I paint are for children. Nope. At other shows, they even see me as a Folk Artist or, at least, as a beach artist. I am all those things. And, yes, I do paint and create items for boys. I just rarely take them to shows because people don't buy them.