3 year old DD keeps saying she's a boy

[MotherOfLittlePeople]

My 3 year old DD keeps saying things like
"When I grow big I'm going to be a boy"
When I ask what she is she will say "a boy".

She only really plays with boys at school but the teacher said she thinks it's because the boys will do as she says where as the girls don't.

Do I go along with it? I have been saying no you are a girl but this seems to make her say it more.

My DD was like this, luckily being trans wasn't mainstream and having a sex change wasn't a 'thing'. She was into football, wore football shirts all the time and had short hair. She is 29 now and a perfectly normal heterosexual woman. Not particularly 'girly' perhaps but that's not a bad thing imo. Make sure she knows that she is a girl, being a girl is great, and she will always be a girl.

I was incredibly gender non conforming as a child and hated my mum forcing me into dresses. I had my hair chopped off above my ears at 6 loved it. By the time I was 12 I had started happily accepting that women are awesome and that I could break down gender stereotypes instead of reinforcing them. And that's what it comes down too.... by breaking down rigid gender stereotypes there is none of this " born in the wrong body" or " pink brain blue brain" claptrap. We can all dress however we want and il stand side by side a boy or man and fight for their right to wear a skirt or cosmetics etc and same for a girl presenting as traditionally masculine but you CAN NOT change sex or be born in the wrong body .

Op, show her strong female role models as she grows up. There are plenty of kids books that show the women in history that have contributed to science and culture but are barely celebrated. Show her it's fine to play traditionally masculine sports like martial arts and rugby but you are still a girl. I would very very carefully police her internet usage as she gets older so she doesn't get sucked into the social contagion of trans ing.

My 3.9 year old ds still gets a bit mixed up sometimes and thinks hes going to grow up to be a girl. Its confusing for them at this age because they're noticing differences between boys and girls and trying to make sense of them - for example, he wanted to join ballet class but only girls went so he thought he had to wait until he 'grew up' into a girl before he could go. I just keep explaining that he will always be a boy, until he grows up into a man but he can still do ballet/wear pink shoes/grow his hair long if he wants.

He is also adamant that when I was little he was a grown up and looked after me and then at some point we swapped over! It's funny how they try to figure it all out .

Also just to further illustrate how easy and malleable kids thoughts are ... my daughter was born when I was a hobbyist reptile breeder and exotic hedgehogs too. She was helping me out from when she was 18 months and loved the tortoises, snakes and lizards. When she was about 5 we were checking the incubator and candling eggs aswell as looking for new signs of hatchlings. She got all emotional a tiny tortoise the size of a 2 p and burst out crying, she turned and hugged me and said " oh mum, is this the incubator where I was hatched from? It's just so amazing". I burst out laughing and tried to explain about mammals giving birth live like hedgehogs and we are mammals . Not snakes or lizards that lay eggs. She wouldn't have any of it, thought we were tricking her . It took her class teacher saying that yes, we are mammals and we come from our mummy's tummy's. She still can't believe she has more in common with a hedgehog than a tortoise and she is 12 now 😂

My 3 year old wants to be a reindeer when he grows up.....I wouldn't read into it!

My three year old is convinced she is a dog and keeps trying to wee in the garden.
Her favourite game is for me to throw a stick for her.

Who am I to stand in her way?