Yesterday, I painted my toenails, and Ari wanted to paint his and his fingers too. Xander joined in the fun, and by the end, each of their fingers and toes was a different color: red, purple sparkles, white sparkles, black, and white. (Connor's toes are purely red).
That evening I asked Ari if anyone noticed them at camp.
"Yes!" said Ari. "People said it was beautiful."
I asked Xander the same question.
"A lot of people commented, actually," Xander told me. "They all said, "'Why do you have nail polish if you're a boy?'"
"What did you tell them?" I asked, curiously.
"I said that I like nail polish, and that boys can wear it just like girls. There are lots of things that are for both boys and girls. You can be a boy and do girl things, and be a girl and do boy things."
SO. PROUD.
(Also, a reminder that yep, we're not in CA anymore, nobody asked at all when he painted his fingernails two months ago!)
I am so proud of this Loving Family that I popped all my buttons when I read this post. Michal and Jonathan, you know you did something right when Ari and Xander are totally comfortable in their own skins,free of feelings of gender discrimination.
ReplyDeleteParenting done right. :-)
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ReplyDeleteSo proud of your boys, your and J's parenting, and Xander's self esteem and ability to articulate.
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ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone!
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