Boys in dresses. Yes or no?

[spidermama]

My DS (3.5) loves dresses and butterfly tops and glittery sparkley fairy type stuff. I have no objection. I even bought him a couple of dresses of his own to stop him raiding long-sufferine DD's wardrobe. My only slight worry is teasing from other kids. He wants to wear a dress to pre-school today. What do you think?

DS1 wanted to go to a fancy dress day at his school recently as a fairy in his sisters wings, but we found we should find something different as we didn't want him teased by his friends.
What he wears at home is up to him, although he likes wearing winter clothes in the summer, which actually winds us up a little, but each to his own.

He likes pink, but personally I wouldn't dress him in pink, although dh has some great lilac, and pink tops as they are now easy to find in the shops for men, and he looks great!

When he was smaller and his dd was still a baby. I used to try her dresses on him for the size, etc. Which he thought was great.

This has been a real thought provoking thread. My little spiderboy also 3 used to love dressing up with his sister. Snow White a particular favorite and also an old 70's long party dress of my sister's complete with old straw hat. He looked a bit like ET! Before we set off to pick up my other kids I suggested he change and he didn't protest too much. I didn't want him to be teased by other chn at the school or encounter comments on the way to school. He thought he looked fab and I just wanted to protect him. Only this morning he asked when he was going to be a girl and yet just recently he's become far more boyish, rowdy, interested in sport etc. Having had a very boyish boy from the start with ds1 I kind of miss my sensitive little cross dresser ds2. Just remembered actually, ds1 aged about 3 and a half falling in love with a red straw hat with pink roses on in Hennes. I bought it for him and he happily paraded it around our local shopping centre for the rest of the morning. He did get some funny looks and I remember thinking it was sweet and amusing because he is such a boy. I do think its such a shame colours become boy and girl colours. The son of a neighbour of mine loved pink and really wanted some pink wellies for school. She just couldn't bring herself to buy them for him and tried to explain that he might get teased. What a shame. I tell my kids that their dad wears pink shirts to work sometimes.

lonelymum- your ds's and my ds1 need to meet up - he's fed up at school because all the boys in his class play football every playtime and he doesn't want to play. He's also very bright - always got his nose in a book to the extent that some of the others don't want to sit next to him in class because he doesn't talk enough

Afraid to say that I agree with those who say not to send boys to pre-school in dresses. I do think it may lead to the boy being more "girly" than his peers later on and therefore being teased/bullied at a later age. Ds1, despite not liking football, is very boyish otherwise and is well liked by his class.

On the other hand, another boy in his class always was very girly at an early age, would often come into pre-school with a doll, and now (at the age of 8) is often seen with a teddy still and would much prefer to play with the girls. The trouble is the girls don't want to play with him (after all he's a boy) and all the boys (including my ds) describe him as strange and peculiar. Yes - it's a shame that "society" has conditioned our children to think in this way (even mine - I haven't ever myself objected to my boys playing with dolls or wearing girlie dress up clothes and have "ordered!" dh not to object either - but they still think this boy is strange) but at the end of the day I would rather my children "fitted in" and would be worried if one of my ds's was still doing girlie things when they start school.

PS. But dresses are really comfortable and practical (as long as you're not planning climbing any trees).

Spider mama, I just loved your story about your dh's teddy. It really made me laugh and I thought the best thing about it was your dh's attitude to the teasing - that they must have been jealous because theri teddies didn't have hats! That's the kind of well adjusted and confident child I would like to help create.

Ahh! Thanks Satine. It's DH all over.

just bought ds3 some sparkly bangles!!!!