There's no one who knows a kid quite like a parent. We have a special bond to say the least, and we get a sense for what we think they'll really love and enjoy. So one mom didn't even think twice when she saw a dress that'd be perfect for her son — even though he never explicitly asked for one. And now her mom is very upset.
On Reddit she full explained the situation.
"So I have a 4 year old who is very masculine, but also loves pretty things," she wrote. "I buy all his clothes, obviously, but he picks out what he wears. I've always bought his clothes in the boys section, but recently I found a sequins dress (he loves sparkles) and decided to buy it for him and see if he wanted to wear it."
The mom says she didn't put it on him or force him to wear it in any way, but hung it in his closet as an option.
"The next day he pulled it out, as I kind of figured he would, and wore it to pre-k," she wrote. "Now he wears it sometimes, and I've decided to provide him more options since he clearly likes 'girly' clothes."
Although she says he hasn't received any backlash from friends about it and she genuinely doesn't see the harm, not everyone agrees it was innocent.
"My mother hates this idea," the mom confessed. "She’s not anti gay, or really even against boys wearing dresses, but her issue is that my son never specifically asked for a dress or complained about wearing boys clothes. She thinks I'm making him 'confused' for no reason, and said I should have never even provided the option."
Now the mom wants to know if she was out of line for buying it because he didn't specifically request it.
Fellow Redditors assured her she wasn't doing anything wrong.
"You know your kid likes sequins," affirmed one reader. "You put it in the closet as an option for him to decide what he wanted to wear, not what you wanted him to wear. If he had never put it on, that would be his decision too. Allowing him the freedom to choose what he wants and giving him options is being a good [parent]. Clothes have no gender."
Others emphasized how it actually made her a great mom.
"I think it was considerate of you to be open to different options for your son since you know what he likes," commended another user. "Children's clothing is super gendered. If your kid wants sparkles, it's going to need to come from that section. People are more open to this stuff now, but still it's only an issue when a boy wants to wear something considered girly."
The person continued: "My mom dressed me in matching boys or unisex (which male is the default) clothes with my sib and I had no problem. But, other times we wanted a sparkly dress. It's not your fault clothing, like everything else, is sexist. I think it's nice you care about making your kid happy."
Keep following your gut, mama.
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