Question
Hi! My husband and I have three kids; a girl age 8 and boy and girl twins age 6. The girl twin has recently gotten to be very into “boy things” and please listen before making judgements. I think there is nothing wrong with being a tomboy or dressing as Batman as a little girl. I am proud of her for who she is. She is strong and hard working and smart and a very sweet girl. I am however concerned with hearing about kids that change genders at a young age, I’ve even seen there is a show called “transkids” that shows kids changing genders at an early age. I don’t judge those parents but I also don’t think kids can make those decisions before 18 let alone before puberty. I am concerned about daughter when she refers to herself as one of the boys. Or when she is sad that she’s not a boy. When I really talk to her about it she says she knows she is a girl but likes sports and super heroes and that boys are “funner” to play with at recess. Another thing that concerns me is that she only wants to wear athletic shorts and tee shirts. About 4 months ago she wore the same favorite dress of hers almost everyday, she loved it. Now she absolutely refuses to wear dresses or skirts. When we go to nice dinners I tell her that she can’t wear tee shirts and shorts and needs to wear either a dress or a nice top and pants. She throws a complete fit. She even says she doesn’t want to go if she can’t wear what she wants. Our family has always enjoyed going to nice dinners together so this is very strange for her to do. She is also the fussiest and throws the most tantrums of the three kids, the other two are pretty easy going. My biggest worry is that she is unhappy and fussy because she wants to be a boy, it breaks my heart because I gave birth to a beautiful lil girl and want her to be so happy with that. Am I over reacting because of what I see in the media or is there a true concern with my six year olds behavior?
I’m sorry this is so poorly written, I am a sobbing mess thinking about her future and worrying about her being unhappy.