When we had our first child she broke all the stereotypes. She wasn't the girly girl that my wife was expecting, she was the best son I could ever want. But quickly things changed, she didn't want to be a "he" or a "she" instead she just wanted to be whatever pronoun worked for her at the moment. Princess, Cop, Mechanic, Cowboy or Hair Stylist she didn't see things as gender specific, instead she saw them as fun. My wife and I loved her point of view and did all we could to support her. Luckily we had great friends and there were a couple of other kids that thought the same way.

 

Until one day in kindergarten she received some push back from other kids about not letting her be Darth Vader. It didn't make sense to her and as a result she just went off to play by herself as she sometimes does. Now my wife knew this was just a growing pain but also knew the importance of teaching our daughter that she doesn't have to conform. She can set her own path (like she had been doing) and go her own way. She set out to find some books that we could read to help reinforce the message but much to her dismay at the time there weren't a lot of books out there for this situation. So she did what any A-Type person would do she wrote one. With in two weeks she had her manuscript and asked me to do some illustrations for her. I jumped at the chance and with manuscript and illustrations in hand we got and agent and with in 2 weeks the book was picked up by Macmillan Publishing.

 

Now, we could let other kids out there know that if they wanted to dress up as a Princess, a Pirate, a Ballerina or even Darth Vader there were others just like them that would be waiting out there to greet them (and maybe talk about the great illustrations in the book). "Eleanor Wyatt Princess and Pirate" was released in 2018 and was a great success. We were then asked to do a follow up book the next year to help boys know that it's okay to feel emotions and follow their path where ever it leads. That book was "Harrison Dwight Ballerina and Knight"and was published in 2019. We are very proud of our books and just as proud of the kids that helped us create them. I have two kiddos now and they couldn't be more different. They teach me something new almost every day and I love to hear their fresh perspectives on things I've never thought to think about before.