A scheming mother tells her hair stylist all about making her son into a girl for a school performance.

I looked up from my appointment schedule just in time to see Betty Wood sashay in for her regular visit to the Tresses and Glamour Salon. Betty was what you would call a high-maintenance woman, which went along with her professional image selling real estate and her self-image as a civic leader. She was one of my major sources of updates on community issues including the new fine arts charter school that her 13-year-old son attended. Sam is a short, frail boy, but a model student with strong interests in reading, music, and art. I loved chatting with him on the special occasions when Betty would bring him in for a quick haircut. He could carry on a marvelous conversation about everything from dance to teen gossip, but showed limited interest in things like cars and sports. I often wished Betty had been blessed with a daughter. That way I would have two very interesting and highly profitable customers from the Wood family. As it was, Sam's simple male hair cuts did not give us much time to talk, and I really couldn't charge much for them compared to my regular fashion work.

"Good morning, Jenny. Just my regular trim, color touch-up, and style again."

"You look smug today. I bet you have some really interesting news for me."

"I certainly do! You know I have been helping as a teacher's assistant in the dance program at Sam's school. Well, the school has a big dance concert coming up this month and Sam is going to be in a special role."

"Let me guess, is he going to be a fairy or something?" As soon as I said that I realized the unintended double meaning.

"Not quite, but close. The eighth grade class last year did a fancy square dance performance, and the teacher wanted to do the same thing again. There was one big problem, the class this year is 5 boys and 3 girls."

"Sort of hard to make two squares or four couples with that mix"

"Well, Betty to the rescue. I lead Sam over to the teacher and volunteered a solution. With a wink I suggested 'Why don't we just make Sam in to a girl for the show?' and the teacher agreed right away. "

Her news immediately got me excited. Whenever I hear anything about a 'mom making her boy into a girl' think back to how wonderfully different my childhood might have been if my mother and I were ever able to discuss gender issues. Nowadays I always enjoy hearing about some boy who is getting a chance to explore his feminine side. Sometimes it is clearly the boy's idea, but more often I hear about a mom who is giving a subtle or even emphatic push. I wondered how much Betty was pushing Sam.

"So the teacher and I led Sam to the front of the dance studio and made the announcement to the class."

"How did Sam react to being told he would dance as a girl?"

"To my delight he smiled as the girls clapped and pulled him over to their side of the room. The teacher got them all lined up for the first run through the dance and Sam just stepped into a ladies' position in the square like it was perfectly natural. The girls immediately accepted his new role, but the boys were a bit hesitant to partner him at first. The teacher picked up on this right away and announced 'Samantha is a girl now, please treat her as one.' I couldn't be happier with how my suggestion was working out.

"I noticed that because Sam wearing pants the others sometimes got confused about who was the lady in a formation. I rummaged around in the school's costume closet, found a suitable skirt, and at the next break asked him to put it on."

"Did wearing a skirt bother ... Samantha?" I had risked referring to Sam by his feminine name, and was relieved to see that Betty seemed comfortable with the name.

"Not that I could see. He stepped into the skirt, pulled it up high above his waist, reached underneath to drop his pants, handed the pants to me, readjusted the skirt, and went back to his place in the dance.

"Dance steps come naturally to him and he quickly adjusted to doing the ladies' part. The problem was that he was still moving more like a boy that a girl. But no problem, I had a fix for that."

"Let me guess, you made him practice square dancing at home?"

"More than that. On the way home from the rehearsal we stopped at the mall and I bought him a full girls' outfit to wear at home. For this first shopping trip I took it easy on him and just let him watch while I picked out some pretty clothes from the juniors' department. I figured he wasn't ready to visit the female fitting rooms yet. Anyway, when we got home I announced in no uncertain terms that since he was assigned as a girl for the dance recital he would need to learn the role by wearing girls' clothes from when he came home from school to when he went to bed. For the next few evenings I made him walk back and forth in the living room until he got a nice swish to his skirt. Of course was I also coaching him on posture, and gestures, eye glances, and every other aspect of acting like a girl."

"And he went along with all this feminization coaching?"

"Not only went along, he quickly became an eager participant! I knew he was enjoying all this when he timidly asked me if he could wear one of my nightgowns to sleep in. I gladly loaned him one and even applied a little perfume so he could be surrounded by a feminine aroma all night."

This story was getting good. "Has he ever cross dressed before?"

"Well, I dressed him up as a girl when he was really little, but my ex-husband disapproved and I stopped before Sam started school."

"Sounds like you and Sam are making up for lost time. Tell me what happened next."

"For the rest of the rehearsals I had Sam properly dressed as a girl. I found him a wig with long hair, a white blouse, a blue skirt with full petticoat, white anklets, and Mary Jane shoes. With that outfit he was a pretty as any of the other girls. Of course, his presenting as a girl made it easier for the boys to treat him properly in the dance moves."

I tried to picture Sam with shoulder-length hair. What a wonderful customer he could become.

"The really big decision came when they started costume fittings for the show. The three other girls all have started to noticeably develop, but the costume blouses are definitely cut for a full figure. The teacher pulled the girls, including Sam, aside and asked if they wanted to perform in padded bras that would fill out the costumes and make them look like adult women. The vote was three in favor and one abstention. I was listening in, and immediately announced that Sam would be properly fitted for the show.

"This meant another shopping trip, and this time I went all the way. We went to Nordstrom's and I told the lady in the intimates department that I was costuming Sam to play a full-figured woman's role in a show and that he needed a suitable bra. Without hesitation she grabbed some merchandise and led Sam back to the changing rooms for his first bra fitting. It was awesome how he cooperated with the process. I even made him wear the bra under his school boy clothes on the way home."

"You maked him wear the bra home from the mall? What were you thinking? Were you trying to humiliate him?"

"How was I going to miss that opportunity? I figured that making him do something like this would make it easier for him to go on stage in front of and audience. Besides, he looked so cute two pretty bumps pushing against his boy-cut shirt. I could see he was nervous and just wanted to get to the car as soon as possible.

"Instead of heading right home, I lingered in the store made him shop a while longer. I told him he needed to get used to wearing a bra and adjusting his posture to show off his assets, so I was going to buy some extras for him to wear between now and the show while keeping his performance bra nice and new.

"A few days later, I talked with his teacher and the school principal and convinced them to be really supportive of Sam learning to be totally in character as a female. When I suggested to them that Sam wear a bra to school for the next few weeks they thought for long while. I pointed out that there were no school rules prohibiting this, and they ultimately decided they were OK with the idea. The very next morning I sent him off in skinny jeans with a checkered girls' shirt over a training bra."

"Did the principal say anything about restroom arrangements?"

"The school has a unisex handicap restroom on the first floor, and Sam will use that one for now.

"When he showed up in class wearing a bra the girls were delighted to see that Sam was getting more into his role. They even started to give him tutorials on acting like a girl. When I arrived a few days later to help with afternoon dance class they were sitting outside the studio giggling. I heard one girl tell Sam to repeat what he just said but this time to roll his eyes and bat his eyelashes as he was talking. That's when I noticed that Sam's nails had been painted bright red."

"So, the girls gave him a manicure? This sounds wonderful but I am amazed how fast things have been moving. I have heard of many boys being dressed a girl for a drama production or skit, but you seem to be pushing much farther and faster than normal preparation for a performance."

"I have been looking for an excuse to dress Sam up ever since my ex packed his bags and left. I immediately saw this dance recital as my opportunity, and am playing it for all it is worth. Fortunately Sam, or Samantha, is going right along. When we got home on the manicure day I asked him if he wanted to use some of my nail polish remover. To my delight he replied that he wanted to leave it on. ' They told me that it would make me remember how to hold my hands,' he said with a girlish gesture."

I thought about Sam’s visits here at the Tresses and Glamour Salon over the years. Betty’s description of his reactions to recent events started to make sense. I needed to offer reassurances of my support. “Sam has always been such a special boy. I think the two of you are having fun discovering who SHE really is. If you need information on local support resources you just have to ask me.”

“Thanks.”

To my delight Betty had basically accepted my offer. I had confirmed that her efforts were about much more than a one-time school play. Still, I was fascinated and wanted to learn more about what was happening with the current production. "How about the dress rehearsal and the show? Is he going to have to have to put his costume and makeup on in the boys' dressing room or do you plan to get him ready at home?"

"We talked it over with the girls and they are all totally cool with Sam using their dressing room. As far as they are concerned he is just one of the girls. It will be a great experience for him. I got him some really opaque panties and some panty liners that he will put on at home. With that combination covering between the legs nothing inappropriate will show when he puts his frilly costume panties on over them."

I fantasized for a moment about Sam in the girls’ dressing room running around in bra and panties while looking for his square dance petticoat. I really wanted to hear all the details after the show, and I was already looking forward to Betty's next appointment.

"Tell me do you have more plans for feminizing Sam after the performance is over?" I suspected Betty was supportive so I made my sales pitch without waiting for an answer. "If she is willing to continue exploring being Samantha I would be delighted to give her a complete makeover at my introductory discount rate."

"That would be fun, wouldn't it? We'll just have to see what happens."

The End