When I was a girl growing up my dad and his brothers would start off their childhood stories like this. "When I was a little girl, before I ate a dirty dishrag......". I used to think it was real and then after I figured out it was impossible at the tender age of 12 I thought it was funny. I'm 36 years old so back then we weren't exposed to transgender issues that our kids see now. My dad and my uncles could make those jokes 'cause they were so absurd that is was so funny that a boy used to be a girl.
Walking though Disneyland you can pretty much see all varieties of all walks of life. I saw a transvestite that had the most gorgeous hair and nails. I wanted to stare not because he/she was a man dressed up as a woman but that he/she was meticulously dressed, heels and all. I always stare at anyone that is crazy enough to wear heels at Disneyland. Oy Vey! Resisting the temptation to ask he/she what she does to her hair I walked along watching a dad rubber neck like I've never seen as the mom was covering her kids eyes. My five year old is exposed to a lot more at five then I ever was. I was still playing with barbies at 12!
The other day we had a lesbian friend stay with us and she would casually mention her wife in conversations. Isabella asked me about girls marrying girls. I wasn't prepared to have this kind of talk for a while, but I was glad to tell her about love comes in many forms. I wasn't ready but I was glad to have an opportunity to teach my child about it before someone else did. I know a lot of people have a lot of very strong feeling about this so I will avoid the politics.
Isabella is at an age where she is very curious. Those that know her know that she is obsessed with women having babies. She also is at the age where she shares everything. If someone at the grocery store even looks at her, she will engage in a lengthy conversation about ligers or how she saw daddy give mommy a "coconut massage" and they were "starkers". I have to be careful because right now everything is a truth. If I say something it is real. It's a great age but nothing is held back and not a lot is private.
So one day when I was picking her up from her very conservative school her teacher whispers to me, horrified, that Isabella told her class that grandpa used to be a girl.
