When Jacob first put a dress on as a young child, he didn't do it because he wanted to be a girl, he wanted to wear a dress because he loved the way it moved with him, how it swayed when he spun around, how it caught the wind when he ran as fast as he could. Who can blame him? Clothing can be so magical.

Chloe loved the way she looked in black, she loved cars, dinosaurs, and camo print - a superhero mask pulled over her face was part of her everyday wardrobe. She didn't think for one second that wearing a Black Panther mask was just for boys. She felt powerful, and that's all that mattered to her.

Neither one of them were making a statement. They were just following their own inner joy and being authentic to themselves.

But every time I watched them, I felt an old instinct rise up in me - the urge to steer, to "correct" them away from their instincts. Not because anything was wrong, but because along the way, I learned that being too different wasn't safe.

As the youngest child in a family of six, I didn't have the opportunity to figure out who I was without worrying what it would cost me. The rules in my household were passed down based on seniority, and being “the baby” in the family meant I didn’t have a lot of bargaining chips, and very little room to exist beyond familial patterns and expectations.

So when my own twins showed me exactly who they were - clearly, happily, and without asking permission, I had a choice to make: correct them, or un-learn what I'd been taught about the “rules” of conforming.

That choice has a name: re-parenting.

It's a choice I've had to make again and again, raising my twins. Unlearn what you I was taught, relearn what I want for my children.

Making this effort became a way to heal myself, a gentle look back at the kid who was too afraid to go against the grain, and a chance to give my own kids what I so badly needed.

I chose to let go of the idea that girls dress one way and boys another.

I let go of the instinct to protect them from judgment by asking them to shrink themselves to make others happy.

I chose to speak words to them that my younger self would have loved and needed to hear.

Raising my twins has meant re-parenting myself right alongside raising them and relearning what it looks like to take up space without apology.

It’s not an easy switch but it's an intentional act of deep love towards my kids and inner-kid.

Jacob and Chloe didn't just inspire StereoType. They co-founded it, in every way that matters.

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Elizabeth Brunner is the Founder and CEO of StereoType, a gender-free kids' fashion brand that challenges the norms and stereotypes of traditional clothing.