Felicity is visiting her sister’s family one Sunday afternoon. Penelope’s husband is playing golf and her two children; Alice and George are playing noisily on the staircase and landing. They spend more time arguing than getting along and Penny frequently has to interject before their behavior gets out of hand. George is forever teasing his sister and Alice is always on the defensive. “Why can’t he just get along nicely with her?” Penelope says after breaking up yet another spat.
“I was round at neighbors the other day and she has one of each…. you’ll never guess what she does to ‘encourage’ her son to play nicely with his sister.”
“What?” Penny asked.
“Well… I called around and I could hear them playing upstairs… we sat at the kitchen table having a coffee and a chat. They were playing hide & seek. We could hear footsteps and doors opening and closing and in the background, the daughter loudly counted backward from fifty…” Felicity described. “The footsteps come down the stairs and all of a sudden, her son enters the kitchen looking for somewhere to hide… I don’t think he knew I was there because he froze and looked absolutely mortified when he saw me.”
“Why?” Penny asked.
“Well… he was wearing a dress… and not just any dress but a really pretty party dress,” Felicity explained. “I figured they’d been playing dress-up. He hid in the pantry and his sister yelled ‘coming ready or not‘ before trotting down the stairs to find him. Alice asked if he was hiding in the kitchen or dining room but we weren’t going to give him away. It didn’t take long for her to find him and they trotted back upstairs, giggling and clearly having fun.”
“So… why was he wearing a dress?” Penny asked. “I presume his sister was wearing one too.”
“She was but not a party dress like her brother,” Felicity replied. “Once they’d gone I just had to ask and his mother told me that the only time he’ll play nicely with his sister is when he’s dressed as a girl.”
“I can’t imagine George putting a dress on to play with Alice,” Penny stated. “But I imagine it’d bring him down a peg or two,” she added. “He’s always teasing her for being a girl, calling her names and saying she’s stupid… you know what boys are like.”
Felicity nodded in agreement. She doesn’t have offspring of her own but if she had, she’d prefer two girls or two boys. “One of each means they’ll always be at loggerheads, there’ll always be arguments and…” she shrugged and tailed off.
“I wonder if he likes it… I guess some boys do.” Penny suggested.
“Well… he didn’t look too happy when he saw me sitting in their kitchen. I got the distinct feeling that he was putting up with it rather than actually enjoying it.” Felicity replied, just as another spat kicked off between her niece and nephew.
“What is it this time!” Penny grumbled as she got up and went to deal with them. She returned a moment later, sighing heavily. “He’s only gone and pulled the heads off her dolls again.”
Felicity tutted and recalled how their brother Charles used to do the same when they were little. “They just can’t play nicely for more than five minutes,” she said. They used to play with a big old doll’s house and their brother would always have to introduce some action to liven up a sedate play session. “We were happy pretending the dolls were cleaning the house or unpacking the shopping… but Charlie would have the dolls tumbling down the stairs and breaking their legs or getting into fights or whatever.”
Penelope nodded. “If there’s no action, there’s no fun… that’s boys for you.”
“Well, they sound like they’re getting on for now,” Felicity said, glancing up at the ceiling and noting the silence.
“Only because I’ve put him on a ten-minute time-out,” Penny replied. “Maybe I should do what your friend does and put him in a dress instead.?”
“Maybe you should,” Felicity said. “I wonder how she does it. I can’t imagine it being that easy.”
“Not with George it wouldn’t. But nothing ever is.” Penny replied. “He’d never fit into any of Alice’s clothes anyway,” she added.
Penelope chuckled. She said she has no intention of even trying to put George in a dress, but was intrigued with what she’d been told. “I’d love to know how she does it… I can’t imagine it being a simple case of… what are their names?”
“Emily and Peter.”
“I can’t imagine her simply saying Peter, go and put a dress on and play with your sister ..and him just doing as he’s told.” Penny said.
“No… me neither.” Felicity replied. “I’m intrigued too.”