Mum blasts bullies who asked if she was ‘punishing’ her son by letting him wear a PRINCESS DRESS
A caring mum defends dressing her four-year-old boy up like a princess
A WOMAN has hit back at cruel members of the public who ridiculed her son for wearing a princess outfit.
Caring mum Haylee Bazen, 30, was standing at the bus stop with her three-year-old boy Zackary Buckley.
Adorable tot Zackary was dressed up in his Queen Elsa dress, from Disney favourite Frozen, when he was accosted by a woman.
The passer-by asked Haylee: “Are you punishing your son by making him wear that?”
Horrified by the question, doting mum Haylee remembered: "I literally couldn't believe what I was hearing when this woman stopped us.
"She told me that we should be embarrassed and that boys shouldn't wear dresses but if anything she's the one who should be embarrassed.
"If I saw someone on the street in an outfit I didn't like or thought didn't suit them I wouldn't stop them and shame them - why ruin someone's day?”
The mum, who is determined not to force her son to wear clothes he doesn’t want to, is shocked that a member of the public tried to intervene.
She said: "For a middle aged woman to come up to us and question his outfit was just ridiculous - you might expect it from elderly people because they don't know any different but I was so shocked.
"I feel like I shouldn't have to justify my son to anyone, his whole family is so proud of him and we all love him so much but I decided to write the letter to tell people to leave us to it.”
On that particular day, his class were set to perform some of the songs from Frozen, so Zackary asked to dress up.
Haylee explained: "Zackary loves dressing up, some days he'll want to be a pirate or put on zombie make up but he also loves Disney and on this particular day wanted to wear his dress to school to show his friends.
"He said that he needed it because he wanted to sing Let it Go for his show and tell and of course - three-year-old logic meant that he had to look the part too."
Haylee refuses to push gender stereotypes onto her son, who became obsessed with princesses after watching Snow White in pantomime.
Initially, she worried what people might think when her young son asked her for a Snow White doll for his third birthday and loved hearing the story at bedtime.
Earlier this year, on World Book Day, Zackary asked to dress up as the Disney princess, but his mum was apprehensive that he would be teased by his classmates.
After discussing the matter with Zackary’s teacher, she realised that she should let him dress-up how he wanted.
Mum Haylee explained: "Now when I go shopping with him I don't see things as just simply girls and boys I see it as stuff he likes and stuff that he wants.”
The proud parent penned an open letter to the member of the public that asked questions about Zackary’s dress.
She said: "I am NOT sorry you didn't like how he was dressed nor am I sorry that you didn't like our discussion topic of who our favourite Disney Princess is (Snow White obviously).
"Zackary is my three year old son and he can be who he wants to be. Today he was a Disney princess and YES I did send him to school like that.
"Why??? Because that's what he wanted to wear...
"He plays with cars and dolls, princesses and pirates. He rides his scooter or pushes his pram. He wears zombie face painting or lip stick and if he choose to wear a dress he can.
"So next time you see us, dressed as a princess or cowboy, keep you disapproving stares to yourself and unless you want to tell him how great he looks keep your poisonous words to yourself too.
"You're the one that should be embarrassed to leave the house not us."