Purple?! Yuck!

I recently wrote about the fact that Baxter will still put on a ballerina dress and dance around a maypole with a girl, and wondered aloud when this would no longer seem cool.

Well, that time is here.

"Eeewww, purple!" he squeals when his little brother colors with a purple marker. "I HATE pink and purple. Those are girl colors!" I have pointed out in pictures how kings are often wearing purple because it's traditionally a royal, strong color. He was very interested in this, and later I noticed that he chose a purple crayon. "What about pink, Mommy?" he asked and I had very little to commend it that would impress him, other than the fact that it occurs in nature. ("Umm, well, it makes for a great lipstick shade!" was about the only other thing I could think of. I didn't figure this would help the plight of poor pink.)

He recently spotted the photo of himself in the Cinderella dress with Lucy, and for the first time was not fully enthusiastic about it. "Eew, a princess!" he said under his breath with some embarrassment.

I know this is inevitable and normal. I figure my job is simply to make sure that he always knows he can make his own choices and have his own opinions, and they don't have to be the same as all the other little boys at school. I suggested to him that he listen to what other people say, think about whether he agrees or disagrees, and then state his own opinion if he wants. As an easy example, I said, "What if everyone at school said that cheese was really, really disgusting and no one should eat it?" "Well, that's easy, I love cheese! Cheese is great!" "So would you stop eating cheese?" "No way!!" I told him that this was a conversation we'd be having a lot as he is growing up. Maybe not always about cheese, but I think he got that.

But what I am more sad about, and I think I will have a much harder time with, is that he is nearing that age when many boys stop playing with girls. Most of Baxter's best friends have been girls, and he can do his favorite kind of playing with them (imaginative, role-playing games). I saw the split happening a few months ago, and I credit Baxter with bringing the boys and girls together at recess by inventing a role-playing game that involved super-heroes. The boys wanted to play for the super-hero aspect, and the girls wanted to play because they could create families and drama - so there are Devil Super Cheetahs out there at every recess this week, searching for lost babies, and everyone has found their niche. The characters seem to change every week or two which keeps everyone involved.

Similar to looking at that photo of him in the princess gown a few months ago, I am watching all of these enthusiastic children playing together and wondering just how much longer that will last.