In Defense of Tomboys

Last night, Ian was looking back fondly on an old friend from first grade, a girl from Texas, who moved back to the sun-belt after her one year in New England, which happened to be Ian's year of first grade, which was a very formative time when he formed some powerful bonds of friendship. It was very moving to see how close Ian felt to a few students in his class, and I was especially touched that he was close to some of the more odd classmates that might have been marginalized in other settings - and that these children all seemed to like each other a great deal.

When Daniel was remembering some point of tension that he had experienced with her during Ian's birthday party, and Ian quickly defended his old friend:

Daniel, she's a tomboy! Don't act like she's a plain girl!

Ian has often talked about Skylar's tomboyishness, and often with a hint of admiration.

(November 27, 2011)