Why Do Girls Wear Dresses?
I remember when my oldest daughter was little, and into her curious phase. Which she hasn’t outgrown yet, despite being an adult. One day, it started with “Why do girls wear dresses and boys wear pants?”
That’s when I made my first mistake. I actually tried to answer her directly, fishing up some details from a long-forgotten history course. “Well, at one time, we all wore the same thing. Way back in cave man days, when the first men learned how to tie the skins of animals together and drape them around themselves, it was sort of like a dress.”
“Why?”
“Because that was all they knew how to do.”
“What are cave man days?”
“That was a long, long time ago.”
“You mean, when Granma was little?”
“Way before Granma was born.”
“Well, it’s not long ago now, and Jeffrey has pants. How come he gets to wear them and I don’t?”
The waters were getting deep, and I was treading carefully. Even as the mother of three, I still found myself floundering. “But you do have pants, sweetie. And those pretty tops to go with them. So you have the best of both worlds. You get to wear dresses and pants!” I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for coming up with an explanation that even a child could understand. The feeling lasted for all of 60 seconds.
“Maybe Jeffrey would like to wear a dress, too. I’m going to go ask him.” And off she ran next door. I laid my head on the table, sighed, and waited for a call from Jeffrey’s mother.
