A five-year-old boy's dress-up choices have sparked an interesting discussion about how parents respond to their children's behavior, which others may see as odd.
Cheryl Kilodavis has written a children's book, "My Princess Boy," inspired by her son's desire to wear princess costumes, and by her own initial struggles to understand his preferences. She describes the book as a call for tolerance and an end to bullying and judgments.
In the book, "Dyson loves pink, sparkly things. Sometimes he wears dresses. Sometimes he wears jeans. He likes to wear his princess tiara, even when climbing trees. He's a Princess Boy."
She and Dyson appeared on the morning show "New Day" to talk about the book. In the video, she talks about how she was initially uncomfortable seeing her son in dress-up skirts and dresses, but realized they should accept what makes him happy.
In a similar story around Halloween, a blogger wrote about some parent's reaction to her five-year-old son's decision to dress up like Daphne at the school celebration. Her moving post about supporting her son's decision went viral.
I admire these parents' reaction to their son's choices. But, if I'm being completely honest with myself, I'm sure my husband and I would steer our child toward more conventional dress-up choices. I don't want my child to be made fun of, nor would I want my child to make fun of another child.
How would you react if your five-year-old son wanted to wear princess dress-up clothes? And, why is it so much harder to accept Princess Boys versus girls who dress like tomboys?
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