I don't have kids, but this came up during a lunchtime discussion, so I thought I'd throw it out there...

You have a four year-old son. He's outgrowing his shoes, so you take him to buy a new pair. In the store, he spots a pair of pink glitter hi-tops, and he loves them.

How do you react? Do you:

1) Buy him the shoes, knowing he'll be mocked mercilessly at school
2) Try to gently persuade him to consider another pair
3) Put your foot down and refuse to buy him the shoes

Now let's say you went ahead and bought him the shoes, hoping that either he would learn his lesson, or that the kids would, by some miracle, not make fun of him.

But he comes home crying, saying that the other kids called him a sissy-pants all day long.

How do you react? Do you:

1) Say "I told you so" and make him wear the damn shoes for the next six months
2) Take him back to the store to exchange them for a new pair
3) Tell him that if he really likes the shoes it shouldn't matter what other people think, and encourage him to continue to wear them and ignore the taunts