I think that C may be catching on to my disapproval of him wearing dresses when he and his friends play dress up. The other day, when I went to pick him up from his friend’s house, he was once again wearing a princess outfit. As soon as he saw me, however, he started to take it off. “Boys don’t wear dresses,” he said.

Feeling vaguely guilty, I agreed. We packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed home.

That night, as we were chatting during dinner, he brought up his friend, saying “A’s bigger than me.” A is the name of the 4 year old girl with all the dresses. [Yes, I’m abbreviating her name too. I think I’ve decided to abbreviate all the toddler’s names.]

I nodded and agreed. “But,” I said. “Eventually you’ll be bigger than she is.”

“Really?” He looked at me suspiciously.

“It’s true. You’re a boy and she’s a girl. That means that you’re going to be bigger and stronger than she is. You just have to make sure you eat all your meat and vegetables, so you get big and strong.”

“Cause I’m a boy and she’s a girl?”

“Yep!”

“Yep.” He smiled mischeviously. “A boy who wears dresses!”

sigh.