Who knew?
Grace got a set of Potatoheads for Christmas, and we were enjoying playing with them together. She hands me a pair of blue pants and says, βyou can have the dude pants, Mommy.β I was like, ok. Letβs see what happens if I take the dude pants and pair them with the long hair and red hat. She says βThat hair is for girls!β (Btw I have zero idea where she even got these ideas, because we donβt call things βgirlβ this or βboyβ that) So I say, βBoys can have long hair too.β And keep pushing it a little. So I put a mustache on next. She says again βonly boys have mustaches, Mommy. You canβt put a mustache on a girl.β So I told her that anyone could have a mustache if they wanted one, and kept pushing it. I put on the eyes with makeup/eyelashes and the red lipstick lips (with the βdude pants,β long hair, red hat and mustache). So sheβs looking at my potato head and says I canβt mix those things because they are for girls/boys. I tell her that people can choose to be girls/boys, or wear whatever clothing/facial hair/makeup either way. I also said that some people donβt feel like boys or girls, and thatβs ok too. I said that itβs up to each person to decide who they are and what they like, and that only they can tell us who that is (and that we have to respect that, and acknowledge it). So she looks at my person for a minute, and picks up her person and asks βAre you a boy or girl?β I made mine say βIβm not either. I just like to look pretty.β And she says βI love your mustache!β π I would have never thought in a million years that Mr. Potatohead would be the medium that led me to introduce my daughter to the idea of gender identity/nonconformity, but hey - it happened, and I think it went pretty well. Presenting information in a matter-of-fact way, being honest and answering all of the questions seems to be working out so far. π














