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Bank holiday weekend in this neck of the woods. (another example of the convoluted relationship that is had with religion in this country.) We shall have fish and chips, and just now, I finished painting the kids toenails. Miss Biscuit thought her pink toe nail polish needed touching up, and Senor Onion is always a fan of painted nails. He chose a rather deep burgundy color this time. (a slight departure from a rather tomato red he tends to sport when the opportunity arises.) He was asking why he couldn't have his nails painted during the school week. I had said that it was likely that kids weren't allowed because it might be considered distracting. (because some schools do have rules like that.) Then he pointed out that some girls sometimes wear it. He asked if just boys couldn't. I said I didn't know, but I suspected it depended upon how a kid or their family felt.
It is kind of tricky territory to venture into with a kid. On one hand, as any fairly educated person on the internet knows, gender is a construct, and nail polish is awesome. I don't want any kid of mine to feel bad about anything they love. I've always made that clear to them. I always will. On the other hand, I really don't want my six year old to have to face such an up hill battle in certain social situations. I want him to feel comfortable, safe, and not have to have some weird conversation with a group of kids who may not realize yet that nail polish has nothing to do with gender identification. This would not have been an issue when he was in preschool. I think most of the boys wore nail polish at one time or another. This is a slightly different environment. It isn't all gung-ho gender specific labels but... it's primary school.
So we have this slight compromise. Wear toenail polish on the weekends. If when he is twelve and wants to wear nail polish to school, (rock that Cobain look with a cardigan and shaggy hair kiddo!) I figure by then he will have enough chutzpah that he will handle things well. His Nana was slightly surprised the first time she saw him wearing toe nail polish but I just made a clear statement that he loves it. It's awesome. Nail polish means nothing except an expression of a bit of color. It set a good tone.
By the way, I painted my nails "All hail the Queen" by Butter of London. Kind of a beige with a hint of a sparkle. Really I want to get my hot paws on some of that stuff by Natalie Dee. OH MY GOD.
All right, back to pretending I am a nurse to Miss Biscuit: world's bossiest pretend vet.
It is kind of tricky territory to venture into with a kid. On one hand, as any fairly educated person on the internet knows, gender is a construct, and nail polish is awesome. I don't want any kid of mine to feel bad about anything they love. I've always made that clear to them. I always will. On the other hand, I really don't want my six year old to have to face such an up hill battle in certain social situations. I want him to feel comfortable, safe, and not have to have some weird conversation with a group of kids who may not realize yet that nail polish has nothing to do with gender identification. This would not have been an issue when he was in preschool. I think most of the boys wore nail polish at one time or another. This is a slightly different environment. It isn't all gung-ho gender specific labels but... it's primary school.
So we have this slight compromise. Wear toenail polish on the weekends. If when he is twelve and wants to wear nail polish to school, (rock that Cobain look with a cardigan and shaggy hair kiddo!) I figure by then he will have enough chutzpah that he will handle things well. His Nana was slightly surprised the first time she saw him wearing toe nail polish but I just made a clear statement that he loves it. It's awesome. Nail polish means nothing except an expression of a bit of color. It set a good tone.
By the way, I painted my nails "All hail the Queen" by Butter of London. Kind of a beige with a hint of a sparkle. Really I want to get my hot paws on some of that stuff by Natalie Dee. OH MY GOD.
All right, back to pretending I am a nurse to Miss Biscuit: world's bossiest pretend vet.
