When I Was a Boy

This morning when Paloma and I were playing outside, she got a little warm and asked if she could take her shirt off. It immediately made me think of one of my favorite songs by Dar Williams, 'When I Was a Boy". So far she definitely hasn't been the super girly princess type - much more into dinos and dragons thanks to Lio's influence! I love her, and that little bit of boy that's in her. Hope she can keep him.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

I won't forget when Peter Pan came to my house, took my hand I said I was a boy; I'm glad he didn't check. I learned to fly, I learned to fight I lived a whole life in one night We saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck. And I remember that night When I'm leaving a late night with some friends And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe, someone should help me I need to find a nice man to walk me home. When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom, Climbed what I could climb upon And I don't know how I survived, I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew. And you can walk me home, but I was a boy, too. I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike Riding topless, yeah, I never cared who saw. My neighbor come outside to say, "Get your shirt," I said "No way, it's the last time I'm not breaking any law." And now I'm in this clothing store, and the signs say less is more More that's tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me That can't help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat When I was a boy, See that picture? That was me Grass-stained shirt and dusty knees And I know things have gotta change, They got pills to sell, they've got implants to put in, they've got implants to remove But I am not forgetting...that I was a boy too And like the woods where I would creep, it's a secret I can keep Except when I'm tired, 'cept when I'm being caught off guard And I've had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds its way To catching fire-flies out in the backyard. And so I tell the man I'm with about the other life I lived And I say, "Now you're top gun, I have lost and you have won" And he says, "Oh no, no, can't you see When I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked. And I could always cry, now even when I'm alone I seldom do And I have lost some kindness But I was a girl too. And you were just like me, and I was just like you"