Pink.. or blue.. or black.. they're just colors

Today while shopping at Target I spotted the clearanced section of shoes. As I browsed J was super excited, the boy loves himself some new shoes! The problem was, there weren't any "boy" shoes. As I said that out loud I looked at my sweet almost 4 year old and he says to me, "it's okay mommy I can wear girl shoes". He spotted a pair of pink flip flops. They were his size and he knew wanted them. My son does not need any more shoes. Both of children have far too many (what can I say, it runs in the family!) but the fact that he humbled me so quickly as I stood there with another mom staring on, I gave in. He proudly wore his shoes all day yesterday without a thought in his mind that they are "girl" shoes. I know the time will come when someone asks, "why are you wearing pink shoes" and I pray that over time it doesn't make him think he is doing something wrong. After all, pink is just a color. It doesn't belong solely to girls.

The difficulty in raising a boy is that they are supposed to be manly, like sports, not cry and stand strong. Jabes likes sports, loves cars and trucks but is very sensitive. He cries more than Emelyn does and his feelings get hurt easier. I do not believe this makes him less of a boy and that he needs to buck up. Babe and I have decided to raise our children with the freedom they deserve. The freedom to make choices, be independent, stand up for what they believe in. Clothing is just that, clothing. I do not believe it defines a person and that they should be judged because an almost 4 year old decides to wear a pair of pink pants (that also has happened). He can choose what he wants to wear, and for me, I am not going to put a limit on his color choices. For some reason it seems, when a little girl wants to wear a dinosaur shirt or a truck shirt it is more acceptable than when a little boy wants to wear a ballerina shirt or pink flip flops. I'm not sure why that is but I believe our society needs to dig deeper and see what's behind the clothing, who the person actually is rather than what shirt they are wearing.

My smart, funny, sweet little Jameson has humbled us once again allowing us to think outside the box a bit more. I am so proud of him and I hope that as time goes on he continues to not care what others think. I only wish I had some of that in myself. A photo below of him proudly sporting his new pink sandals!