My 5 year old son just came home from school with a tale about how a few of his classmates were making fun of me for wearing a "skirt". I guess that they even drew a picture to capture the event on paper. I told him that if he can get them to color it nicely, he should nab that piccie and bring it home- I'll hang it on the refrigerator! He frowned at that idea and said he would tear it up. I like that the little guy wasn't upset because I had embarassed him. Being embarassed with me didn't even dawn on him. What bugged him was that his friends didn't know what a kilt was, and still really did not quite get it after his explanation.

Admittedly, I do get some odd looks in the schoolyard from the kids as well as some parents, but who cares. Last May I gave an amateur radio presentation to my 7 year old daughter's class while kilted, and since then I have shown up at the school kilted as I please. When I do career day this year I'll go for a traditional look since I have a traditional kilt this time around. That nice tweed jacket will come in handy that day! In fact, I plan on dressing well anytime I need to go to the school for official reasons.

Last week my wife told me that she was talking with a woman who said that her friend wanted to know if she had seen that guy around who wears a skirt, stating with disbelief, "...and he actually makes his kids dress like that too!" My wife's friend told the woman that it was a kilt and it wasn't like that with the kids since they dress themselves. She topped it off by saying, "I walk to the bus with his wife everyday and he's all right."

When folks ask me about wearing a kilt, specifically about if I feel awkward doing so, I tell them that at first I felt a little self conscious. However, once I came to terms with the fact that many whom I pass each day consider me a freaky criss dresser because to them I AM wearing a skirt, everything fell into place. Good litmus test for me to winnow out those with little tolerance, huh? If it wasn't the skirt it would be something else, right? I try to impart this same 'who-cares-what-the-neighbors-think' philosophy to my children. Wish me luck, but so far so good.

Rigged once mentioned something about how a neighbor won't allow her son to get near him because of his, er, propensity for cross-dressing. Reading that really bugged me. I am sure that there are parents who will not allow their children to socialize with my kids for that reason exactly. Shame on them.

Mychael