Boys and Make Up

Boys and make up huh? Well before I was a mom I swore my future son would never. If you had asked me then...my response would have been, "I'll smack the curiosity out of him." Boys get dirty, girls stay clean. That's how I grew up. 

Truth is you don't really know what you will do until you're put in the situation. There's something really special about being a mother to boys. My boys' although different from each other bring me the same kind of joy. In different ways they fill my heart until it bursts. I find it cute when my littlest goes in my closet and puts on my shoes. It makes me smile when my oldest gets in my make up and puts it on. I see the joy in his face when he runs up to me and says "look mommy I did it...all myself." 

Growing up I only had one brother. I remember our step father being very...how do I put this, macho you could say. Boys played with cars and ran outside, and girls learned to be wives basically. My sister and I's weekends consisted of cleaning and cooking, but that's not here nor there. I just knew I didn't want my kids to be raised that way.

A few months ago I was at the mall with a friend and our boys. While leaving a store my oldest son noticed the bright nail polish and asked me to buy it for his nails. I didn't say no not because I was afraid, but because I had some at home. A couple nights later I found my nail polish and asked him if he still wanted me to paint his nails. He picked the brightest pink and I began to paint them. After the first nail he said "no mommy, take it off." And so I did. 

My boys have long hair not because I want them to, but because I respect their decisions. I've learned to the hard way. Just before my oldest son turned two he asked to cut his hair like daddy. He got a haircut, and chose not to again. Wouldn't even allow a trim. We respected that. The other day he said "mommy cut my hair out my eyes" because for about a month it kept getting in his eyes. 

The lesson we've learned is that it is not our job to tell our children what is right for them. From very little I want them to know there are no girl things or boy things...things are just things. There are no rules on what men can do and women can't. Just like with their hair and nail polish, I want them to grow up being able to make decisions for themselves. If something doesn't feel right I want them to be empowered to say no, but I also want them to be empowered to say yes even if society says no. I want them to be themselves, not what society wants them to be. 

As always, 

Xoxo