So now we realize that Braeden wants this. He wants to be a girl. So my husband and I start talking. We discussed our fears about the situation – would friends and family support this? Would we have to cut off relationships with people who refused to be supportive, in order to support our child? We asked open ended questions to see what he wanted. If you could wear anything to school, what would you want to wear? He said he felt best in dresses. I’ll admit that was too much for me at first. Not that I had any issue with it at all, but the thought of another child making fun of him for being a ‘boy wearing a dress’ just made my heart ache. I wanted him to be able to be whoever he was, and I wanted to support him, but I had to acknowledge that this was a tough path to take. Unfortunately, the world is not kind to transgendered people. The world isn’t a fair and loving place. It’s come a long way in recent years, thanks to the recent media attention, but it is still a long way from accepted. I knew that this was a hard path for my child to take, so I had to make sure we supported and guided her the best we could. I figured we start taking baby steps and see where it goes. So when he said he wanted “girl clothes”, we decided to purchase a shirt or two and see how it went wearing it to school. The shirt he chose was a long sleeved blue shirt with a unicorn and flowers printed on it. Not over the top girly, but a good start. He loved this shirt. He was SO excited to wear it. But I knew the potential for kids making comments, so my husband and I decided to prepare her the night before. “Kids might make comments” we told her. “Boys might ask why you’re wearing that, you’re a boy.” We warned. “What will you say if someone laughs?” We asked. He remained undeterred. “I’ll tell them I’m wearing it because I like it, and I don’t care if they like it.” We were blown away with his confidence. So we let him wear it. And of course, some kids made comments. But even so, he said he wanted to wear it again. So slowly, we integrated a few ‘girlier’ t shirts into his wardrobe. He was never bothered by anyone’s comments. And every time he wore them, he just lit up. It was so wonderful to see. I remember the first time he borrowed his step sister’s sweater, a coral pink zip up hoodie with an iridescent sequin heart, he was in heaven. His confidence was unbelievable.