TS, I feel ya...my dad wanted me, his firstborn, to be a boy in the worst way. Luckily, my mom intervened when she could, but both my parents indulged me in my "tomboy" ways. Dad taught me to shoot, let me dress like a boy away from school and church; mom fixed my hair and tried her best to keep me in dresses.
Fast forward...grew up, decided being a girl was just fine except for the knuckleheads who thought I couldn't do some particular thing because of my gender. Became a law enforcement officer and surprised them all, have had a long and good career in a male-dominated field.
Then - I had a son. I tried my best to allow him to choose his own way, and that way mostly included trucks and tools and tearing stuff up. He did grow up to be a tolerant and compassionate man, following me into the same career choice.
I remember picking him up from grade school one day, me in full uniform, and as we drove home, he told me of his disgust that one of the girls in his class said she wanted to be a policeman when she grew up. I countered with, "But what am I?" He replied with the full force of second grade scorn -"She's a GIRL. You're a MOM. You are NOT a GIRL!" So well then.
