Thursday, January 31, 2008

?

I was a bit surprised at the responses I got to my post below about my friend saying little girls weirded her out. I guess I'm just different than some people...I've had experience with both boys and girls, having had a little brother 12 years younger than me and too many nephews to count and a niece. I fully expected Hailey to be a little boy but was thrilled when I found out she was a girl. If I have a little boy next, I'll be just as thrilled as if we have another little girl. I'm used to having a little girl around, with her pink and dolls and whatnot, but little boys don't weird me out or anything...I guess I just don't understand that? Dan's brother has two little boys, the youngest being 6 months, and from day one of their birth I was changing their diapers and taking care of them just as if they were my Hailey. I guess I don't see the big difference? They're all the same, they're just kids. To me their gender doesn't really have anything to do with it. My nephew loves playing with Hailey's kitchen set and is the whiniest little thing around at times--but also can be a rough and tough little boy, out riding the tractor with Papa and feeding the dogs...and Hailey can be rough and tough as well, LOVES the movie Cars and is obsessed with tractors and dirt and ALSO whiny at times--but she can also be the sweetest little mommy to a baby doll and loves to shop! They're both just toddlers, with their own emotions, likes and dislikes...it's not like you treat a kid different because of their gender. I guess that's why my friend's comment surprised me so much and really hurt my feelings. It hurts to think that somebody would look at or think about my daughter and be weirded out by her. She's just a kid, like all the other boys and girls out there, come on!

4 comments:

Wendy said...

I know that my friend has 3 boys and she says things like she can't imagine having a girl, but I don't take offense to it. It's just because she is so used to them. When I was pregnant with Lani I had a hard time since our house was 100% boy:) It was fine...she is no more whiny than Wesley was. She also is WAY more cooperative. He was such a booger:) I am sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was our first and very spoiled:)

Anonymous said...

I think the key is that moms of multiple boys are so involved in the world of boys that they forget what the world of girls really is like. It's more acceptable for girls to cross over into the world of boys than vice versa, so we forget that little girls don't have to play with dolls and pretend to be princesses, since our boys only play with trucks and balls. Most of us also really wanted a girl, and the farther away from that reality we get, the more we put little girls on a pedestal. It's sometimes hard to know how to treat someone you're jealous of (like a mom with a cute little girl). I truly think that moms of boys more than girls tend to have a sheltered view of raising children by gender.

Jaime said...

The thing I try to keep in mind is that people with just girls don't "get" people with just boys and vice versa. Since I have both I see both sides of the fence.

However, it is very annoying when people make comments like, "I never want a *insert sex here*!" If you've never had one, how do you know? lol

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