I am very lucky to have four children.
Honestly, I have to repeat that sentence to myself on a regular basis....but I digress.
I am very lucky to have four children, two boys and two girls. Sometimes they behave in stereotypical gender type ways. Sometimes they don't - most especially James Henry.
James has always been a little bit frail. What with his early in life health problems, his childhood asthma, bizarre allergies (ranch dressing and onion powder....), and all around general clumsiness the child isn't the paragon of little boy vigor.
He does do things that are typically touted as boy activities. He plays legos. He plays with toy guns. He's a straight-up gamer, yo! And he really enjoys anything having to do with military strategy....oh, and he's gross. He's be super gross if I allowed him to be. He's not Wyatt level gross, but I think this may be a goal of his.
Despite all of these "boy" things, James is very comfortable embracing his feminine side. He likes to have his toe nails painted, loves to snuggle, will watch chick flicks, likes to have private chats, and can throw some serious shade. Oh. And he is always willing to play dress up.
Wig? Cool. He's in.
Dress? Even better.
A couple years ago we discovered that when dressed as a girl, James pretty much looks exactly like my kid pictures (more like my little sister Lydia's though...and quite honestly I sometimes wonder if he's her kid).
Wait. Are you asking, "Why was James dressed as a girl?" Well, my answer is that he's fun. He's not afraid to be silly and he enjoys making people laugh. And boy did we laugh when we saw him in that red haired wig and cherry print dress.
So, when one of my students was shooting a video recently and needed a young female actor, but couldn't find one, I said "I have just the boy for you."
James came to the photo shoot in boy clothes, went into the dressing room, and reappeared as Jamie. People walked by him in the hallway saying things like, "Oh! What a pretty little girl you are." James would always answer, "I'm more than pretty! I'm smart too you know."
Although the statement was smart, it was the voice that always made them stop and stare...and stare...and then walk slowly away.
Not long after that shoot, James had to reprise his role as a girl for another video. He did so willingly. I remember while he was dressing for the part he said, "This is so fun. You girls have all the fun." I wanted to argue with him about that point, but thought I'd let him hold on to that little illusion for a bit. He also said, "This may be the last time I do this, I'm getting kind of manly now. No one will be able to believe I'm a girl." I stifled back peals of laughter. The kid weighs 55 pound soaking wet and disappears if he turns sideways. There's no fear of manliess anytime soon.
Recently, Violet had a friend over to play while I was busy uploading some of James's film-work to my computer. Her little friend stopped while I was watching James's first role, a parody in The Shining. She stared at the screen. Ran into James's room. Stared at James. Ran back to the screen. Looked at Violet and said, while pointing, "Is that your brother? He's beautiful! He's usually pretty cute, but he's REALLY cute in that movie! I LOVE that dress. Why don't you wear that dress? Gosh. He's just beautiful."
At first Violet didn't know if she should be embarrassed or excited for James. I think she may have been a little jealous. She stared at her friend and said, "No. That's some other weird kid. But I'm beautifuler anyway. Let's play." And they ran off.
James overheard all of this. He came out in the living room, loaded nerf gun in hand and said, "Why didn't she tell her it was me? My booty be poppin in that dress!" and he shot off some nerf gun rounds after having said, "Say hello to my little friend."
It was so funny to me to watch both of the gender stereotypes collide in one single moment: booty poppin and nerf gun slaying. I felt like giving myself a pat on the back at having raised a child that is so comfortable in his own skin, and who isn't afraid to step outside the box. And I would have patted myself on the back, had I not been shot to death by rapid fire nerf bullets.
Honestly, I have to repeat that sentence to myself on a regular basis....but I digress.
I am very lucky to have four children, two boys and two girls. Sometimes they behave in stereotypical gender type ways. Sometimes they don't - most especially James Henry.
James has always been a little bit frail. What with his early in life health problems, his childhood asthma, bizarre allergies (ranch dressing and onion powder....), and all around general clumsiness the child isn't the paragon of little boy vigor.
He does do things that are typically touted as boy activities. He plays legos. He plays with toy guns. He's a straight-up gamer, yo! And he really enjoys anything having to do with military strategy....oh, and he's gross. He's be super gross if I allowed him to be. He's not Wyatt level gross, but I think this may be a goal of his.
Despite all of these "boy" things, James is very comfortable embracing his feminine side. He likes to have his toe nails painted, loves to snuggle, will watch chick flicks, likes to have private chats, and can throw some serious shade. Oh. And he is always willing to play dress up.
Wig? Cool. He's in.
Dress? Even better.
A couple years ago we discovered that when dressed as a girl, James pretty much looks exactly like my kid pictures (more like my little sister Lydia's though...and quite honestly I sometimes wonder if he's her kid).
Wait. Are you asking, "Why was James dressed as a girl?" Well, my answer is that he's fun. He's not afraid to be silly and he enjoys making people laugh. And boy did we laugh when we saw him in that red haired wig and cherry print dress.
So, when one of my students was shooting a video recently and needed a young female actor, but couldn't find one, I said "I have just the boy for you."
James came to the photo shoot in boy clothes, went into the dressing room, and reappeared as Jamie. People walked by him in the hallway saying things like, "Oh! What a pretty little girl you are." James would always answer, "I'm more than pretty! I'm smart too you know."
Although the statement was smart, it was the voice that always made them stop and stare...and stare...and then walk slowly away.
Not long after that shoot, James had to reprise his role as a girl for another video. He did so willingly. I remember while he was dressing for the part he said, "This is so fun. You girls have all the fun." I wanted to argue with him about that point, but thought I'd let him hold on to that little illusion for a bit. He also said, "This may be the last time I do this, I'm getting kind of manly now. No one will be able to believe I'm a girl." I stifled back peals of laughter. The kid weighs 55 pound soaking wet and disappears if he turns sideways. There's no fear of manliess anytime soon.
Recently, Violet had a friend over to play while I was busy uploading some of James's film-work to my computer. Her little friend stopped while I was watching James's first role, a parody in The Shining. She stared at the screen. Ran into James's room. Stared at James. Ran back to the screen. Looked at Violet and said, while pointing, "Is that your brother? He's beautiful! He's usually pretty cute, but he's REALLY cute in that movie! I LOVE that dress. Why don't you wear that dress? Gosh. He's just beautiful."
At first Violet didn't know if she should be embarrassed or excited for James. I think she may have been a little jealous. She stared at her friend and said, "No. That's some other weird kid. But I'm beautifuler anyway. Let's play." And they ran off.
James overheard all of this. He came out in the living room, loaded nerf gun in hand and said, "Why didn't she tell her it was me? My booty be poppin in that dress!" and he shot off some nerf gun rounds after having said, "Say hello to my little friend."
It was so funny to me to watch both of the gender stereotypes collide in one single moment: booty poppin and nerf gun slaying. I felt like giving myself a pat on the back at having raised a child that is so comfortable in his own skin, and who isn't afraid to step outside the box. And I would have patted myself on the back, had I not been shot to death by rapid fire nerf bullets.
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