I just got back from spending two weeks with my sister whose only child is a girl. If you’ve followed my blog some you know I have three boys and my world mostly consist of cars, Legos and superheroes. Oh, and lots of dirt and grass stains.
I grew up with brothers (my sister joined our family when I was older).
My best friends were boys for most of my life.
So this pink world is foreign to me.
I must say though, in my time there, I did realize I missed out not having grown up with my sister. She’s really into makeup so one day she put lots of makeup on me and did my moms hair. I kept thinking is this what I missed out on–makeup parties, slumber parties, borrowing clothes… Well, I did borrow my brothers clothes sometimes. Especially, in my frumpy, baggy 90’s fashion phase of my life. My 90’s friends, I know you know exactly what I’m talking about.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into her house was all the pink. Sprinkles of pink and purple throughout her house. Pink little frilly socks laying on the floor. Pink little shoes on the couch. Cute little baby dolls in the basket. Pink and purple zippy cups in the dish rack. I’m not into pink though I do sometimes splurge and cute pink office accessories but other than that my world is filled with blue, greens, dirt and Legos spread throughout the floor.
Then I walked into her daughter’s room and WHAM! I was hit with pink and purple–everywhere.
It was in the curtains, all over her bed, in her closet, in her dresser– literally everywhere. Lace and sheer stuff, butterflies, princesses, dolls…galore! Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but not much. She did have one cool book about cars and animals–my toddler boy would’ve like that. To say the least, I was intrigued and fascinated.
I was a tomboy who wore dresses in my early years of life. So, my world was never this girly. And now with three boys in my home my world will never be this pink and purplish, though my boys do have a pink dish set and doll house. I did outgrow my tomboyish phase and now I totally embrace fashion, clothes, shoes and accessories, but don’t be surprised if you find me climbing a tree at the park in cute shoes.
Well, in the short time, I spent with my sister I noticed quite a few differences from her daughter and my boys. Obviously, every kid is different no matter what sex they are but there were some interesting dynamics going on. Her daughter was constantly chatting away or trying to interact with us–constant. I think she said more in two weeks than what my boys say in a year.
What was amazing was her constant desire to interact with others or just sit next to someone. My oldest is an extrovert so he is also very relational but he was fine just sitting for an hour or two playing with his planes and cars–alone. Girls also play differently. I remember one day my son had a play date with two little girls. I was driving and he was in the back with his girl friends. And what I heard next was absolutely foreign to me. One little girl said, “I want that Lego with the hair and red shirt.” The other girl said, “No that one is mine because it’s a girl and I already have a boy Lego and he needs a wife. Plus, that one has pretty hair.” I looked at my son through the rearview mirror who was caught in-between this little girl spat and in confusion he adamantly said, “I don’t have husband and wife Legos.” It was quite hilarious.
Again, I totally realize boys and girls can emulate each other it just depends on their little personalities but it was just fascinating for me to observe my niece and the differences compared to raising MY three boys. My niece is also a ham in her personality she get that from her mama (my sister). My niece would walk into the kitchen while we were catching up and she’d just stand there waiting for someone to look up at her so she could coyly smile and wave. She’s absolutely adorable!
I’m so very thankful to have only boys but I also miss the fun little girl things.
So this made me curious what are some big differences you see from raising your boys and girls?
