MOTHERHOOD RIGHT NOW | ON LIPSTICK + EURO MULLETS

You know that phrase, "all boy?" I've never much liked that phrase, because what does that even mean? But if there were ever any boy who'd be called all boy, it is Huck. Huck is all boy. Whatever that means. Fart jokes, constant moving around, every story he writes at his preschool literature group ends with somebody pooping, he's got the manic energy of your classically mischievous, get-into-trouble, cannot-sit-still little boy.
Huck also has a thing for lipstick. Any time I leave the house in lipstick, Huck insists on a wearing some himself. Because lipstick is beautiful, and who wouldn't want to look beautiful?

I love Huck at this stage, because at this stage there are no limits to what a kid is allowed to like. Tinker Bell movies? Awesome. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Rad. Zombies? Obviously. Rapunzel? Yeah, Rapunzel has some really cool hair. At this age, Huck is allowed to like whatever he wants to like and society is pretty willing to give him a pass, and I hope so much to be able to preserve that little bubble of freedom for him for as long as humanly possible. It is such a fun time. Huck gets the concept of gender, instinctively I think all kids know exactly who how they are, even if names or definitions are limited. But right now that's the extent of it. Nothing is "girly," nobody has cooties, there are no reputations to protect, everything is curiosity-driven, and enjoyment comes purely from a true gut level.
A lot of this story is not mine to tell. Huck is at the age now where his own private life is rich full his to control. But from a parenting standpoint, a little bit of it definitely bears recording. This has been such a fun, exploratory time, for all of us. We're trying to let any gendered ideas be as wiggly as can be, and when Huck asks body-oriented questions, as kids do at his age, we try to be as literal and straight-forward as possible. We've been exploring the idea that the difference between boys girls comes down to just hormones. When you think about it, all our parts are basically the same, except our hormones have made some parts bigger and some parts smaller, some function differently, and truly, those hormone levels can be found all over the spectrum, can't they? Closer to one end or closer to the other, somewhere in the middle, it's all gravy. We feel like it's the first tricky parenting concept we've come up against, and we both feel really good about how it's working out so far. (The other day Huck asked, "Who made me, mom?" and I answered proudly, "Me!" But that's as far as that one's gotten.)
Brandon gets a lot of credit for this one, Brandon is probably the most forward-thinking old-fashioned guy I've ever known. You want nail polish? Rock it, Huck. You like those pink skinny jeans over there in the girl's section? Dude, so do I, let's get them. Lipstick? Sure, you want red or pink? From day one Brandon has encouraged Huck to be proud of what he likes, it's been such a pleasure to watch. Brandon is a fantastic dad.
The other day, Huck got his hair cut. His hair had reached that nutso shaggy stage where he was starting to look like an orphan from an 80s sitcom. Hair cuts are a collaborative effort at our house, the kid knows what the kid wants. My job is only to execute the final design. He very firmly requested a swoosh in the front--the swoosh is all-important--and then it needed to be long in the back, like Rapunzel's. I told him, "Huck, that is called a mullet. I don't think you want a mullet," to which Huck said, "but it's COOOOOOL." And so, we mullet-ed.

I tried to err on the side of the Euro mullet. You know, more soccer, less Billy Ray. ;) I gotta say, I'm feeling it. Only a kid like Huck could pull this off, right? He is so proud of his super cool hair. I am so proud to be his mom. Some days I'm so proud I could burst. He's just such a rad human being to hang out with occasionally shout "no running in the house!" at. Four is shaping up to be pretty all-right. It's a really good time to be Huck's mom :).