Super! Great self-confidence for him and kudos to you for guiding him to be so independent.

Your son sounds very strong-minded. What a wonderful trait!
That's amazing that he can do a backflip like that too. skillz (now that i know the word "skillz" it's probably not cool anymore, but oh well. It's hard to keep up!)

Love the fact that he is talking to you about how the kids treat him. He knows you've got his back, and that's the foundation for becoming the great kid you've raised. Go Ethan!

What a great kid and how awesome are you to support him. I think Rachy is right about boys. Congratulations and hope you had a fantastic Mothers Day!

My husband teaches fifth grade and we were talking last night about what a great kid your son is, and how he's probably sowing seeds of confidence in kids around him without even knowing it. What terrific parents he has!

Awww, you guys have made me so happy with your wonderful response to this thread. Raising children is fraught with such complex landmines that it feels good when something goes well. I do worry that while he stands up for his own style, he might not always be willing to go against the crowd on important issues, but at least this is a good start... And my favorite thing about him is that he does talk a lot about what he thinks and feels. At this stage in the game, I can't ask for more than that!

Good for him! It takes a very confident kid to stand up against peer pressure.

Now, He is the cutest on the block!:-) Love how fierce he was standing up for his personal style-how rare and unexpected from a boy that young-but we all knew Ethan's fashion competency already!

I love this post so much and always enjoy seeing Ethan's great style. That back flip is amazing! How cool that his friends are starting to copy his style.

Oh my goodness, with all this love, you guys cannot be surprised when a teenage boy signs up to YLF in the not so distant future... And then the WIW feed will be a little, uhhhhh "different".

In other news, Ethan is currently geeking out because an actress from Gilmore Girls just appeared on another show. My work here is done.

What a great kid! Standing up for yourself at that age takes backbone. You must be a proud mum.

Great post

Sounds as if Ethan has it going on thanks in part to mom.

I'm hoping to raise my daughter in the same manner.

Great job Ethan
Great job mom

FANTASTIC! He is very cool!