I bought a shirt for my 5 1/2 year old son, Ford, a few months ago.  It has skulls and cross bones on it.  It is a brown long sleeved shirt with blue and yellow for the accents.  It says “be nice” in letters looking like they are lightning bolts ….I don’t know very “boyish” looking.  He wore it the other day to school, but he didn’t have school that day, we had parent/teacher conferences, and the kids could play in the supervised activity room while we met with their teachers.  A staff member commented on how much she liked his shirt.  All I could think, was “me, too”.  I wish I had thought of it.  But my shirts are simple, a couple of positive words, nice colors, pretty fonts,  and a bird. This is what I wanted, and what I feel makes them “mine”.  I love them and wouldn’t want them to be any different.  There are a lot of other companies creating similar products, and though they might be my competition, I wholeheartedly support them. 

At dinner tonight Ford told his Dad and I about a little boy in another class who plays on the playground at school at the same time his class does.  He told us that the boy is not very nice.  We asked him what he meant, always checking to make sure Ford isn’t the kid at school being picked on.  He said, “he is mean to the girls, he chases them and scares them”   I don’t think Ford plays much with the girls in his class, but what I got out of this is that he doesn’t like to be mean, or pick on them either.  His teacher told us in our conference that Ford seems to get along with everyone in his class.  Another mom recently told me she was excited about her son’s friendship with Ford because Ford is a “nice boy”.

I am so proud of this, and also relieved.  I have 2 boys, and I see them hit each other, tease each other, and use potty talk with their friends.  It is good to know that even when I am not in sight, Ford knows how to behave, and is inherently “nice”.  I think of myself as a nice person, and I am happy to say that Ford is happy to wear his skull t-shirt that says to be nice!  He can play rough, act tough, and be a boy, but he is still nice, and I encourage and praise that quality in both of my boys.