Samuel

Arthur’s toes wiggle and press, scratch and explore everything. This is especially true when he’s thinking hard about something. When he’s concentrating it almost seems as though he’s trying to manipulate his environment by sheer force of will, and what’s scary is that sometimes I think he just might do it. I love his toes. I love the way his true feelings are always betrayed by them. I love how they’re still soft and babyish, but slowly and ever so surely becoming kid toes; scraped up, muddy, calloused.

toddler toes

In my life, I’ve had some good friends who have been transgendered. Recently, our toddler has started asking about how Mama and Papa seem to have different parts. Mama was trying to explain how girls have yonis and boys have penises, but she got caught up as she tried to explain this in such a way as to be comprehensible to a toddler but not impose hetero-normative ideas as first principles. If anyone reading this has any ideas, they would be welcome.