Kids Don't Care

Today a close family friend told me they would rather go by Charlie (fake name) which is a nickname for their last name instead of Elizabeth (fake, but similar female gender specific first name). I told them great, thanks for letting me know, that's what I'll call you from now on.

My son is 3 and has know this friend most of his life, as Elizabeth, today at dinner I showed him a picture and said 'Elizabeth wants to be called Charlie now. So when we see them, we'll say 'Hi Charlie '. His response, he waved at their picture and said 'Hi Charlie. Wait that's Elizabeth.'

I told him 'Yes, but they want to be called Charlie now'.

He said 'ok.' then asked for more milk.

It didn't confuse, hurt, or in anyway way impact my son, that our friend now is going by the name Charlie instead of Elizabeth. Yea, he'll probably call them Elizabeth a few times over the next couple of months and may take some time to learn to call them Charlie, but it's not some traumatic event for him. It's just Elizabeth is now called Charlie, and he wants some more milk with dinner.

The fact that trans people exist don't confuse our kids. He isn't wondering why Elizabeth is going by Charlie, or as fear mongering will tell you, wondering if he is a girl. He is just learning that people deserve respect. He's 3 and living his best life. If the fear mongering is right, I should keep him from watching Curious George, cuz last week he told me he was a monkey like George.