They found Jon’s mom in the kitchen, busy getting the dinner ready. She was chopping up some vegetables as Karyn and Jon entered.
“Hey Mom...” Jon began. “Can we talk to you for a second?”
His mom, Linda, turned towards him and smiled as she put down the knife.
“Of course, honey. What’s this about?”
Jon glanced at Karyn who nodded.
“Well, Karyn and I were talking about our New Year’s resolutions since it’s New Year’s Eve and I had an idea.”
“Oh?” Linda replied, sounding intrigued.
“I want to spend the next year as a girl.”
“Oh,” Linda replied, taken aback. She glanced at Karyn, who shrugged her shoulders, as she had no idea where this had come from. “And how long have you been thinking about this?”
“A little while,” Jon answered. “But it’s not like I want to do it permanently or anything. I just thought that it would be cool to spend the year as a girl to see what it’s like and stuff.”
Linda blanked for a moment, and then, suddenly, her whole demeanor changed.
“That’s a great idea honey. You know, I’ve actually been thinking about a similar thing myself. Maybe I should spend the year as a man to see what it’s like for my husband.”
Jon smiled, happy to see his mother coming to the same train of thought as him. Karyn, however, frowned.
“Mrs. Gibson, you can’t be serious!” she cried out.
Linda looked at her. “What do you mean, Karyn?”
Karyn shook her head.
“It’s one thing to be supportive of Jon and allowing him to actually do this, but doing it yourself? Isn’t that taking it a bit too far?”
Linda blinked, not sure at what Karyn was getting at.
“I’m not quite following you, honey. I think that it would be a good idea if everyone suddenly decided to switch genders for a year. It would give everyone a chance to see how the other half lives.” Turning to look at Jon, she added, “I’ll talk to your father tonight, honey, and see what he thinks.”
Jon nodded. “Thanks, Mom.”
