The Gendering of Preschool

[ktsparrow]

My youngest starts preschool in a week. She has been a wild and naked thing all summer, climbing everything, running so fast she feels like flying, and eating pounds of fruit a day. She says things all the time like, "I am a silly boy," and "Monkey George! I love her!" and generally gets pronouns and gendered identities wrong all the time. We love

Comments

[kate_schaefer]

My granddaughter was surprised, while in kindergarten, to learn that a friend who invited her to a birthday party was a boy. He, in turn, was surprised to learn that she was a girl. They'd been in school together for months, playing together frequently. Thier mothers were all amused.

Now she's at college. At this point, gender isn't a problem, but identity continues to be challenging.

Best of luck!

[rose_lemberg]

Thank you for supporting your child in her gender expression.

[ktsparrow]

To clarify, I think gender is a social construct, and she (for lack of a better term) doesn't have it yet, at least not to the degree that will be pounded into her. So it's less gender expression and more the kid being free.