Bowden, Gender and Clothing

Daniel has the same pattern in Kindergarten that Ian had prior to this academic year; the tendency to befriend, and slightly idolize, some quiet, pleasant, awkward boy in his class. It seems like a natural matching of the extremes - our kind, being outgoing and outspoken as we are, probably naturally gravitate to soft-spoken, underopinionated people, like some kind of aesthetic balance.

So Daniel's quiet friend is Bowden. He came to his birthday present, and apparently he's coming over again - I think tomorrow. Seem like a very nice child, and I'm happy for Daniel that he has a clearly identifiable friend now, and an enhanced identity to go with it.

So tonight, enthusiastic about the upcoming visit, Daniel was talking in some detail about Bowden. One question: are there any girls named Bowden? I'm quite sure that there are, since girls have, as their given name, any first, middle or last name that you can think of. You know, George, Walker, Bush, William, Blythe, Clinton - soon we'll see female Baracks, Husseins and Obamas... But I digress.

Anyway, Daniel wanted to know if there are any girl-Bowdens. I told him I suspect there are. He then pointed out that Bowden has girl-eyelashes, or "grail-eyelashes," as he pronounced it, "but actually it's [sic] a boy."

But most touching were his words of admonition to his nudist three-year-old sister, to avoid public embarrassment in the near-future:

"Don't be naked when my friend, Bowden, comes."

(February 8, 2012)