Fingers & Toes

A friend recently steered me towards J.Crew's Facebook page, which had posted a link to one of their employee's "weekend pick's." It sounds innocuous enough, right? Beyond colorful cardigans and sensible slacks, what could they include that would shock a handful of people?

Apparently, the staff member in question shared some photos of her hanging out with her son and painting his nails (in hot pink no less!). There were a few comments on the Facebook page that questioned why a young boy would want his nails painted and other comments sharing their disapproval.

One thing I have learned as the mother of a four year old, is that if the kid doesn't want to do it, then it most likely isn't going to get done... and it will certainly not be done with a huge, happy smile on his face as was seen in the photograph. We can safely assume that this young boy actually wanted his toenails painted.

And after all...is that such a stretch to not only believe, but accept as well? I sat there, reading the comments and shaking my head, thinking...yes! I should blog about this. But the more I thought about it, the more my head hurt. I just don't get it. If somebody could explain it to me, I'm all ears.

Why would painting a boy's toes personally offend somebody? I mean, I guess I can kind of understand the reasoning...but, then again, not really. I honestly don't believe painting a boy's toes will make him "any less a man" or hinder him in any way. Perhaps it's because I witness this all first hand in my own household?

My son is certainly no stranger to nail painting, and has his nails painted more often then I do. Truthfully, I only get around to painting my toes when it's bare feet weather, unless he pulls out the bag o'polish and urges me to "get pretty" with him.

He loves gazing down at his colorful toes while he exclaims how "awesome" or "beautiful" they are.

From Saturday morning when the living room was transformed into a nail salon

And they are. 

He usually chooses a plethora of colors, rather than sticking to just one, and they always come out looking completely unique  and totally "him." This time, he decided to paint his fingernails as well. I never have mine painted, because I can't stand when they start to chip and peel (plus I'm a nail biter and...yeah. Gross, I know.). Yet, here he was, demanding I polish his fingernails as well. 

I'd like to think I did a pretty good job, considering my lack of manicure skills

He loves the sparkly color, and I love the fact that you can still see the dirt under his nails!

Had somebody come in and taken a picture of us mid-morning on Saturday, the scene would have looked very similar to the J. Crew one. Granted, we went for more sparkle than brightness with our polish and my outfit was nowhere near as "casual chic" as Jenna's, but there was lots of fun and laughter...two things I would never say are out of place for a little boy.