Halfway down the Danube

Introducing... Paul!

For the longest time, I wanted to write a post about a member of our family -- Paul. He is very special and he illustrates our liberal views in this household. Not only do we endorse gay marriage, not only did we use to live in Dupont Circle, no! We also share our quarters with Paul.

Paul came to us back in spring 2003. It was before David was born and we thought it would be nice for Alan to learn how to care for someone else, share his toys, and his parents' love and attention. Paul has beautiful blue eyes but no hair. First, we thought this was a lifestyle choice, now we're not so sure. See, he came into this house dressed up as a boy. His name was Paul. No problems, right? It was not until much later that we realized Paul was indeed, physically, a girl. He does, however, insist on being called "Paul" and referred to as a male. He also never thought to put his clothes back on once he'd got rid of them. He's a true nudist if there ever was one.

What can you do? We tolerate his quirks and teach our boys to be open-minded in general and unassuming about people's sexual self-perception in particular. It is an important lesson, no doubt about that. We just sometimes wished we had been informed about his gender confusion before Paul made our house his home. Just, you know, to be prepared.

Anyhow. Here's a picture of him. And no, he never smiles.