posting anonymously

I had a 6 year old boy in my care. Part time for 3 years until very recently. Boy came to my home after being away for a couple months and all is going fine. He tells me he wishes he was a girl and had a vagina. I was surprised but told him that we are all made the way we are meant to be and listed a few good qualities about each child's personality, he was happy and dropped the subject. Over the course of the next couple weeks, when mom drops him - he is wearing dresses, skirts, pantyhose, hair clips. When dad drops him he wears not clothes. I ask him how cone he's wearing his younger sisters clothing and he says 'because I love it and I am a girl today.' I ask mom what the change is and get the response 'He has discovered he is transsexual. And identifies with being a female now'. This mother recently came out(which is wonderful. I have no issues with straight/gay/bi people at all). I wasn't sure what to think. Can a 6 year old knowthry are/be transsexual? Now I have 3,4 and 5 year olds asking why he now 'is a girl'?' So I tell them he is seeing what it's like to be the opposite of what he usually is and instead we turn the conversation into opposites and they all have fun thinking up opposites. They think its weird hes doing this but accept it. Dad just sighs, shakes his head and leaves when I ask him what's going on.

Later in the day as i am making lunch boy tells kids, 'babies come out of vaginas. Babies are made when penises go in vaginas'. So I bring him into the kitchen and let him know he should keep that info to himself as these kids are too young to understand this. At pickup I talk to mom who says, 'So?! That IS where babies cone from isn't it?!' Well, of course it is but I don't think the 3,4,5 year olds need your 6 year old to tell them that. Mom gets very upset and says kids will no longer be coming to 'such a homophobic, uptight place' and that she 'pitied the children I look after as I am so close minded'. I told her I am sorry she feels that way and wished her all the best. I also let her know I don't have prejudices against what other chose for themselves/are by no choice of their own. I didmt know what else to say. I feel bad that things went this way and I tried my best to be professional but I just don't know what to think. Can a child that young feel the need to be a different gender? I just don't know. Now I have a lot of explaining to do to other dcp