Both times I was pregnant and had dreams of what my children would turn out like, it occurred to me that there was a chance that my children would be backwards. Not that it would make me love them any less, but I feared a wimpy son who wanted to cuddle babies and a tom-boy daughter who wouldn’t let me touch her hair. Considering that their daddy is all boy (think video games, Transformers and superheroes – even today) and I’m all girl (pretty dresses and tea parties), I wasn’t sure what we would do if this happened!
When my son was little, he latched onto a baby doll. We found boy clothes for it and my husband put a little helmet on him so that he was a football playing doll (which our son named “Josh”). Surrounded by boy-toys, my daughter has latched onto Ninja Turtles and she sings the Transformers song better than her nursery rhymes. Uh oh.
But I needn’t worry. This hit me smack in the face Saturday as I was showering and the kids were playing independently in the play room. First, my daughter came into the bathroom with her arms full of baby dolls. She had diapers, bottles and blankies for them. She sat and rocked them, read to them and kissed them goodnight. Then my son ventured in carrying a football and a bucket full of race cars. Things were going well for a while, and then my son started screaming at his sister. When I asked the problem, he said “She won’t be a wide receiver in my game!” I snickered and said, “She’ll be your receiver when you feed her baby.” “No way” he replied. “Don’t touch them! Go play cars!” she yelled. All was right in the world.
Once in a while, my son still asks for Josh and he tenderly rocks him. It gives me a glimpse of what he will be like as a father, and I believe Josh prepared him for being a brother. My daughter races cars and tackles her brother, so I know she’ll be able to hold her own when boys come calling.
After we made cookies Saturday, my little guy said to me, “I’m going to go play. You and sissy can clean up the kitchen because that’s what girls do.”
Ok, so maybe some fine tuning is necessary…
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