Boys...a whole new world.

As many of my faithful readers (ha!) know, I have two girls and one boy.  When C was little, before the twins were born, I loved girly things...little skirts, dresses, hairbows as big as her face, nail polish, braiding her long hair, etc.  She was in a cheerleader outfit every Friday at daycare, and usually on the Saturday of the game all football season long.  Enter the sonogram identifying boy and girl twins.  OOOOOHHHH!!!  Another girl!  More girly dressing up, more hair to do, more dresses and frills,  hand me downs!  And a boy!  My husband won't leave me because he is now forced to live in a house with 4 girls...just 3 girls and hopefully a mini version of himself!  Football!  Soccer!  Sweating and yard work!  We have just gotten the incredibly unexpected, no they do not run in my family and no we weren't on fertility drugs though it is none of your business and why do you care, best of both worlds.

Now they are 2.  Gender roles be damned, my little man, within the past week alone, has insisted he's "a big girl," has come home in princess pull-ups because daycare ran out of his boy version, threw the mother of all fits when his sisters were getting their nails painted and we tried to explain boys don't do that (in the end, they do.  His toes are just as pretty and pink as C & E's), and every day since he was old enough to stand, has stood in front of me in the morning line up to get his hair done.  C & E get pigtails, ponytails, headbands, etc. and for awhile, there were ponytails in his hair too, and there was a blue (boy color, insists C) headband that J insisted was his.  Now that he's gotten a haircut, he gets that his hair is too short to put in a ponytail, but that doesn't stop him from still lining up and occasionally wearing a headband.  I insist he will not wear headbands in college, so let him have fun until he knows better...then I think, "maybe he'll be the kid who DOES wear headbands in college...whatever, at least he'll be an individual."  At which point the doubting spiral begins; am I good enough parent?  Am I protecting my kid from being bullied?  Am I letting him express himself?  Then I remember he's two and take a Klonopin and move on to a more pressing challenge, like pulling an entire roll of toilet paper out of the toilet, or putting clothes on the kid who loves to be naked, or, *gasp* preparing a meal.

The other night, J walked out of his bedroom in plastic high heels, a tiara, one earring, and a tutu.  He had also somehow gotten into my chapstick that has a tint, which was all over his lips, one cheek and ear.  He announced he was a pretty girl and super booootiful.  While attempting to not laugh but get him changed before his dad saw and had a heart attack, I did discuss with him that he was a boy, so he could be a "handsome boy" or something like that...he then told me he'd be a handsome boy.  And so could C & E.  They would all be boys together.  So I went with it.