The weeks pass by and nothing more is said on the matter between Felicity and her sister. She sees her friend Catherine once or twice a week in each other’s houses. Sometimes Catherine will have Peter and/or Emily with her and Peter is always wearing normal boys’ clothes. But Felicity can’t help but wonder if he’s wearing knickers beneath them, and if so, are they pink and frilly, and do they have his name on? When Felicity visits Catherine, sometimes Peter is dressed as a girl and sometimes he’s wearing boy’s clothes. Felicity never draws attention to his frocks; some of which are lovely, if a little ‘young’ for some whilst others are very plain and very drab. After briefly grabbing a snack from the kitchen, whilst wearing a green plaid pinafore over a white blouse and white tights, Felicity asks if he has a set routine. “…or do you just put him in one when he’s naughty?” she asked.
“He does his homework wearing his girl’s uniform after school for an hour or two, and I like to see him wearing a nice Sunday dress…” Catherine replied. “It’s when I sense him getting bored or stroppy that I’ll suggest he plays with his sister for a while.”
“And that means go and put a dress on?” Felicity quizzed.
“Yes,” Cath replied.
“Does he choose one or do you choose for him?”
“It depends. Sometimes I’ll let him wear one that he likes, sometimes I’ll put him in one that I know he hates.”
“So he does like some of them?”
Catherine smiled and chuckled. “Oh yes.”
“That surprises me.”
“Well, give a boy five dresses; a yellow one, a pink one, a lilac one, a flowery one, and a blue one… and you can bet your bottom dollar that he’ll wear the blue one when given the choice.”
“Yes, I suppose,” I replied, trying to imagine how a boy might think when faced with a selection of girl’s dresses.
“It’s more the best of a bad bunch than him actually ‘liking’ them,” Catherine added.
“Yes I can imagine,” Felicity said, chuckling. “I gave my sister that pamphlet but I don’t think she was too taken with the idea of putting George in dresses.”
“I was in two minds, to begin with,” Catherine replied. “It was only when I saw just how much it helped him to behave did I realize that I’d done the right thing,” she explained. “But each to their own… if she’s not taken by it then, ultimately, it’s her decision.”
“True,” Felicity replied.
