I know it may seem very obvious to you parents, but it's just dawned on me recently; raising boys is a COMPLETELY different kettle of fish to raising girls, I mean in every way. They are like, a completely different species for god's sake! At every age they would appear to be entirely different. At a young age, like toddler to school age, girls appear to be developmentally a lot further on or maybe it's just that they appear more independent. Girls would appear to be able to dress/ feed/ wash/ tidy up after themselves while boys (generally) are often unable to wipe their own bums even at school age! Now don't get me wrong, this is not a man bashing "aren't women better at everything" post, not at all! It's just something that dawned on me after always believing that raising children would be the same for both sexes, that both needed similar routines, structure, guidance etc. but what I'm actually finding is that the little boy in the house is like a curiosity to me.
I think I'm just one of those people who is more suited to girls! I have a friend of mine who is expecting a baby and all her previous babies were boys and she expects this one to be male too. She believes she is more suited to boys and while she would love a girl, always sees herself with boys. She has a theory that boys are "dimmer" and can be made to do what they're told by being duped into it while girls are too clever to fall for such things?!
I also think it's more difficult to raise boys with this climate of "man bashing" that exists in the media. You know those radio and tv ads with girls talking about their boyfriends like they're completely thick. If it was the other way around there would be outrage!
Anyway did you see that documentary last night with the families of ten or more children? Amazing! A woman and her husband were actually seeking IVF when they were having difficulty conceiving baby number 14!!
As the youngest of 12 children I was still amazed at these huge families...
Ah, you need to read 'Raising Boys' by Steve Bidulph. It's excellent, really accessible and nice, and very warmly written. Good stories, his personal exerience, and lots of info that makes you much more sympathetic towards boys!
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else read 'Cheaper by the DOzen' as a child? I don't know htat the Steve Martin film has anything to do with it - it as about an efficiency expert who had 6 boys and 6 girls nad wonderfully calm wife - he used to teach them things like the quickest way to wash themselves in the bath, it was great.
I told you....they are totally different, boys are easier in my opinion but then again my daughter is amazing (if hard work) I think we bring them up differently, we tend to over indulge boys perhaps, wile we promote self sufficency in girls?
ReplyDeleteThe youngest of 12 Ash? Wow. I only have one sibling. I didn't feel it when I was younger I suppose, but the older I get the more I wish we'd had a bigger family when I was growing up. I look at families I know around me with 4 or 5 kids and think what a different experience that would be.
ReplyDeleteJo I would love the time to read a book! Any book?! Thanks for that, I will look it up.
ReplyDeleteHi MW, I think I'm finding the boy more difficult because he's like an oddity to me. I'm so much better with the girls! Maybe like you said we treat them differently.
SL, being the youngest in a big family was a completely different experience to the eldest. For a start there was money around when I was growing up and my Dad was 50 and so laid back. Must do a post...
My friend told me some advice that she got today from her mother about her boyfriend "don't forget, he's not human, he's just a man"
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