Too Tired to Write a Book: A low and a high and some pix

Okay, so when we got Caley's wig, I admit I had some splainin to do. You can't just walk into a wig shop, ask for a wig for a little boy and expect to not raise an eyebrow. So I thought about what to do. Do I tell the kids to wait in the car, go in first and explain it? I decided to take him right in with me. I said, "my son is transgendered" in front of everyone there like I had said it all my life. The wig shop people sold us a wig, but clearly, they were "wigged out." Plus add to that the fact that Jackson (who HATES dolls of any kind) was totally weirded out by the fake heads with wigs on them, and this was my low. I did it because I had to, but I don't like the feeling of Caley being out there -- exposed for other people to have opinions about him/her. I am getting a big dose of how moms of disabled kids might feel. It's sure changing my outlook on the world, so that's a positive.

The high came when I was at work today (yes, Sunday). Thanks to ATT, my DSL wasn't working, so I had to drive the half hour into the office to get some work done. While there, I received a call that I would have otherwise missed from the intake coordinator at Trans Youth Family Allies -- the organization from which I've gotten the best information. First of all, when I spoke to the woman, Carol, she didn't go, "Oh, my god!" when I told her about Caley. That in and of itself was refreshing. When I told her where we were in the process, she mentioned that the president of their organization was going to be in MI doing "in services" -- where they talk to school boards about trans students -- the last week in August. When I told her Caley went to kindergarten as Cole and will now be going to first grade as Caley, she explained that they could do a whole in-service for us. I have help! I am not alone! There are other kids in MI like Caley! Woohoo! Better yet, she said kids who transition this young don't usually need therapy for long -- and it's funny, because that's kind of how I've been feeling. I want to offer it, but I really feel like Caley's just a normal girl who happens to have been born in a boy's body. But again, some positive info.

And then I heard from my friend Liz that there was a posting on the Big List (you guatemamas will know the Big List -- a list serve for Guatemalan adoptive families) who has a child with gender identity disorder who was adopted from Guate. What? I thought surely we'd be the only ones. I sent an email to the poster -- don't know if I'll ever hear from her, but at least again, I don't feel so alone.

Now posting some pix of the infamous wig. We have since cut the bangs. I think we're all looking forward to the time when it will be her own beautiful hair again, but for now, it makes her happy -- and that's what it's all about! So ... introducing Caley!