Gender. It’s a funny thing. While the new cool thing to do is ignore your child’s gender and let them decide what they want to be, I found that my kids always had a preference.
My son loved trucks. My daughter loved Barbies. I’d give my son a Barbie and he’d run over it with his truck. I’d give my daughter a truck and she’d feed it a toy bottle.
Maybe I was subconsciously pushing these gender stereotypes onto them, I don’t really know, and that’s not the point anyway. The point is, many of us who do have ‘typical’ boys or ‘typical’ girls, will understand how gender can play a role in our daily parenting dealings.
So, which one are you – a girl mum or a mum of boys? And what’s the difference, anyway?
Allow us to show you.
At the park
A girl mum rocks up to the park with glitter in her hair and stickers attached to her arms. Probably unaware they are there. She has an endless supply of scrunchies and big bows. She can also recite the names of 15+ LOL dolls.
A boy mum doesn’t know a thing about LOL dolls. But she can tell you how to successfully get the smell of urine out of your hair. And if you ever need Band-Aids…
Oh, but you’ll have to excuse her for a moment. Her son just pile drove someone into the sandpit.
Around the house
Girl mums are continuously baffled by how many LITTLE things their daughters have collected. Itty bitty shoes, miniature shopping items, teeny tiny pets that come out of eggs. How the eff are you meant to store all this little stuff? And keep it out of the vacuum cleaner?
Boy mums are also baffled.
Not by little things, but by just how FAR their child’s penis can stretch.
On the clothing front
A typical girl mum cannot get enough adorable girl clothing. Twirly tutus, frilly frocks, lacy rompers, mummy ‘n me collections.
Meanwhile, a boy mum is 99% sure her naked-child racing down the paint section of Bunnings was wearing clothes when he first arrived.
The creative edge
Girl mums be like: “Look at how creative my daughter is. She made a Frozen-themed diorama using cotton wool, feathers, and pipe cleaners.”
Boy mums be like: “That’s amazing. My son thinks his penis is a gun.”
Collections
Speaking of guns, if you’re a mum of boys, then you probably have a massive collection of them. And NERF bullets. EVERYWHERE. And don’t get me started on action figures. And the collection of dinosaurs.Â
Girls mums, on the other hand, probably notice odd collections of erasers, pinecones and crappy Kinder surprise toys accumulating in every corner of the house. And DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT MOVING THEM, MUM.
But one thing remains the same, whether you’re a mum of boys, a mum of girls, a mum of both or a mum who chooses to ignore gender. And that’s how much we love them.
Their strong opinions, their quirky habits, their big personalities- so much big love for them. Almost as much as they love their stickers. Or their penis guns.
