UrbanBaby

06.30.08, 11:37 AM General Topics
6 replies

I posted on Friday about my five+ year old boy who said he was a sissy. He said that he came to this realization because of a book he read. That he liked to read and do art (girl stuff) more than he liked to play ball. I asked him what book it was Friday when I got home. He said it was "Oliver Button is a Sissy." Talk about missing the point. Thanks to everyone from Friday (on every side of the discussion.) I wanted to follow up for those who might be interested. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
General Topics 06.30.08, 11:37 AM Flag

Dear UrbanBaby community,

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did you explain the point of the story and what did he say? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.30.08, 11:38 AM Flag

I did not know (until today) what the book was about. It was a classroom book from his Kindergarten class. We'll talk about it tonight and maybe make our own version. (He really does enjoy making his own books.) [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.30.08, 11:49 AM Flag

that's cute and sad at the same time- it's hard being little. I'm sure you did a good job of reassuring him. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.30.08, 11:44 AM Flag

The hard part in the whole thing was I didn't want to "reassure" him of anything really. I didn't want to stigmatize being a "sissy" in the old un-PC sense of "sissy-ness" but I also didn't really know how to answer. (Truth is he is not a boy-ish tough guy.) And I was caught kind of flat footed. I discussed with him that words like "sissy" are used to be mean and that is not something we do in our family. Then we talked about how silly it is to say things like cooking or dancing or drawing or writing are girl things or boy things. It would be so much easier if kids came with instructions. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.30.08, 11:55 AM Flag

didn't mean to suggest that you would reinforce the "sissy" bit- just that I'm sure you did your best to make him understand that he's great just the way he is. i know a dad who taught his 2 yr old to say "I a wuss" everytime he cried - dad thought it was funny. i thought it was about the saddest thing I'd ever heard. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.30.08, 12:04 PM Flag

Sorry. Yeah, it was/is a tough line to walk. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.30.08, 12:08 PM Flag