If there's one thing little kids love, it's having their nails painted. Boys, girls — it doesn't matter. My 4-year-old son rocked pink nails with flower stickers on the first day of school this year. In 2018, we should know better than to conform to silly gender stereotypes that say nail polish is a "girl" thing or there's only one way to "be a man." Unfortunately, it seems we aren't there yet. Aaron Gouveia, the writer behind the parenting website The Daddy Files, took to Twitter recently to share an infuriating story about what happened when his 5-year-old little boy, Sam, wore nail polish to school.
"Sam is my middle child & he’s a terror. A 'boy’s boy' as so many (not me) would say," Gouveia wrote on Twitter.
Like most kids, Sam has varied interests and really doesn't care if fishing is "for boys" or purses are "for girls." But sadly, Sam learned the hard way that some other people still do care, a lot. When Sam wore nail polish to school, he was ridiculed all day long by other kids in his class.
"When my wife picked him up from school he collapsed into her arms and cried uncontrollably," the furious dad wrote. "He was devastated at how other kids turned on him, even his friends. He asked them to stop but that just made it worse. Only 1 kid stood up for him."
Sam called his dad at work, still crying, and his dad told him that his nails are "badass," but the little boy said he didn't like them anymore.
"My son is far from perfect but he’s got a huge heart and empathy for miles. He finds beauty in everything around him and for 5 years he’s never been afraid to be different because different has never meant 'bad.' Until now," the dad wrote.
Gouveia turned his attention to the parents of those kids who made fun of his son.
Instead of giving in and letting the bullies win, the dad told his son that lots of men wear nail polish, men like Captain Jack Sparrow and Thor. He told Sam to wear even brighter nail polish the next day, because those kids are "just jealous." Most importantly, he told his boy that "it doesn’t matter what anyone else does because what you wear and how you look should make YOU look good. And to hell with everyone else."
The kids, he wrote, probably don't understand why they're even upset by a boy wearing nail polish. "I bet their parents don’t even know," he added. "But what I do know is Sam is a goddamn fireworks show of a human being and I won’t let that be dulled for a second by this restrictive bullshit that’s been choking boys forever."
In the end, Sam decided to keep his nail polish.
And Gouveia painted his own nails in solidarity, too.
The tweets got a ton of support from other parents who are sick of bullying and rigid gender norms.
But despite all of the positivity, people still showed up to bash a little boy for wearing nail polish.
Kids aren't born thinking nail polish is only for girls or that it's OK to ridicule someone for being different. That's a lesson they get from adults, as evidence by the many responses to Gouveia's tweets that are homophobic, rude, and imply that Sam deserved to be bullied.
But parents who speak out like Gouveia did are the ones who are going to change the world for our kids.
"Intolerant parents and their offspring scored a minor victory today but they won’t win the war," the dad wrote. "I know that because the Sams of the world aren’t going to suffer this bullshit anymore. Of that I have no doubt."
