Photo, Shoot!

There are many times that Cameron will not look at the camera when I am trying to take a picture of him. I have a lot of great shots of him, but for every 10 pictures where he IS looking, there are 100 where he is not looking. It's like, the second I go, "Say CHEESE!" he immediately diverts his eyes and looks the other direction. Or puts his head straight to the ceiling. I know that for him, he is completely doing it on purpose! He is the kind of stubborn where if you ask or tell him to do something, he will do the complete opposite. This really is thanks to Rhett's mother who cursed Rhett with a child as difficult as he was (which inadvertently curses me). I know that some kids just aren't sure how to pose for the camera and will sometimes try too hard, which comes off completely out of character but I hope its just a phase...isn't it?


And then there are those times when Cam will do anything to get you to take a picture of him. Say like this...



Anyone worried yet?


How about this?

(Not sure where he got that bent leg pose!)

We had a Relief Society Birthday Celebration last night and an LDS artist came and talked to us about fashions of the pioneer times and how they helped her to paint what the scenes may have looked like back then. She was extremely entertaining and eccentric and animated and it was a very different and kinda interesting presentation. Not at all what I expected, but it was enlightening. The thing that stuck in my head the most, though, was when she showed us a picture of this beautiful baby with a pink bonnet and a dark grey, maybe purple dress. It turned out to be her SON whom she had dressed up to have a model for one of her paintings. She also told us that back in those days, children were all dressed the same until they were about five years old when the boys finally started wearing pants. It isn't like nowadays when we are so afraid of gender issues. Little boys wore dresses and played with dolls and whatever else and they turned out just fine.

And what's wrong with being feminine, right? It has taken me a while to get to this point in thinking about these things but I think I am better understanding it now. Boys who are attracted to dressing up like the girls or playing with dolls are seen as having a threat to their sexuality. Feminine doesn't have to be seen as weak or undesirable. And what if girls want to play with trucks or put on a construction hat or use power tools or throw a football? They will grow up to be a lesbian, right? It's so interesting to look at gender issues, especially when you're dealing with little kids. The fear that pops up when small children explore their roles is so unwarranted. Just as they explore sights, sounds, and smells of the world, just as they experiment with speech, music and language and just how they test limits, practice manipulations and try out their emotions, they are exploring the roles that men and women play.

"This is a girl show,"
"This song is only for boys,"
"You can't watch this cause only boys watch it,"
"I don't want that girl toy, huh, mom?"

These are only a few of the comments Cam has made in the last few months. My cousin babysits him on Mondays and Wednesdays and they have two girls, ages 2 1/2 and 5. They love to play with "girl" toys and dress up like princesses and so Cam joins them. This is all a new experience for him, being surrounded by girls, and he has been very interested in what girls are "supposed" to do and what boys are "supposed" to do. Some dads are very strongly opposed to boys dressing up like a princess or doing something like when Cam brings his "Brenden Babydoll" with him when he goes to the babysitters and I just say, "poo, poo." These things are not defining his sexuality, they are helping him to explore different roles. Dressing up is fun...PERIOD. Caring for a doll is a nurturing and caring role that boys should develop to become caring, nurturing daddies. All of this can be somewhat frazzling to the parents at the beginning, but in the end, its just part of learning and growing up. I'm not too worried. Unless he keeps wearing the dress when he's five. Then maybe I'll worry....