Dedicated to my younger self, and every other child, NEVER stop being YOURSELF! 

Xavier was so excited to go back to school shopping, he could hardly fall asleep the night before. 

And when he finally fell asleep, he dreamed about the thing he was the most excited about- his brand new backpack. 

The next day, when Xavier and his parents arrived at the store, he got right to shopping. He put a notebook, a pencil, and a folder in his shopping cart. Then, he spied the thing he had been waiting for. 

A bright pink backpack! 

Xavier ran to show his parents his exciting new find. But sadly he was greeted with a reaction he did not expect. 

His mom said to him, "Did you mean to grab that color?"

And his Dad agreed,

"Yeah, don't you want something less girly?"

Xavier was upset as he walked back to put the pink backpack away. He thought to himself,

 Why can't I get this one? I chose this color on purpose because it's my favorite!

That night at dinner, Xavier asked his parents,

Why did you say that color is girly? I'm a boy and I want to wear it- so doesn't that make it a boy's color too?

And his dad added, "And we certainly don't want other boys at school to make fun of you!"

His mom replied, "It's just a color that is meant for girls."

Xavier wondered about his question all night. The next day, when his babysitter came over to hang out with him, he asked her, "Why is the color pink girly? and why is it bad for me to wear a pink backpack? are girly things bad?"

She replied, 

   "Honestly, it's just the way things are. Don't question it."

Later that day, Xavier's babysitter brought him to the park to see his best friend Josie.

He asked Josie, 

   "Do you think it would be weird if I got a pink backpack? Do you think it's only for girls?"

Josie thought for a moment, then replied, 

"Yeah probably... Plus, doesn't the school dress code only let boys wear blue and green backpacks?"

That made Xavier very upset. He asked his parents at dinner

"Can you guys check my school handbook for me to see if there are certain color backpacks that boys or girls have to wear?"

His parents checked and told Xavier the next day 

"Boys could only wear black, green, and blue backpacks to school otherwise they would get Detentions."