Boys vs Girls

Today I ran into an old friend from high school which has become more and more of a regular occurence. Now don't get me wrong, running into old high school friends whose main goal at the time is to look you up and down to see whether or not you've let yourself go after a few years of catering to a husband and a child, can be a joy, but I'd rather forego the experience.

Actually, after such a traumatic high school and even traumatic grade school experience for that matter, one of the reasons I went to college 10 hours away from home, with no intentions of ever coming back, was to start over, with a totally clean slate. I shed all the old perceptions my family had of me, that my friends had of me, and that I had of me, I even shortened my name in an effort to start a whole new existence.

And one of the great things about living in Minneapolis, and about living in Memphis when we transferred there, was the fact that I could make a 15 minute trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some egg noodles and cream of mushroom soup for a last minute dinner idea without having to worry about running into anyone that I know in any way, shape or form.

But now that we've moved back to my hometown, making that quick trip to the store is a whole other story.

So anyway, back to my story, so I ran into High School Friend in the aisle of Wal-Mart and we're having a nice little chat in the soup section.
She has two girls and a litle boy, and while we're talking, the lightbulb goes off in Kaydn Rye's little head, and he knows this is his opportunity to play spiderman with someone other than his mother. So he and the little boy proceed to shoot their imaginary spiderwebs on each other and anyone else who passes by, for that matter.
I say, "Yeah, Kaydn Rye is all boy," as I think back to a conversation earlier in the week with a another friend who parents a little girl and a little boy. While my child wants to wrestle everyone to the ground and have web-shooting fights, her children want to play vet with their stuffed animals.
Her explanation, "Yeah, when you have the girl first, you can powder-puff your boy a little bit."

But back to Wal-Mart, so High School Friend proceeds to tell me about how she had her two girls first and how life was peaceful and predictable with all the estrogen in the house, but then her boy came, and life became rife with all the wonderful things testosterone adds to life.
I agreed, but thought about how if I ever have any more children, (and by the way, that is still up for discussion) I hope and pray that it is another boy.
I prayed the same prayer when I was pregnant with Kaydn Rye because I guess I just didn't feel ready to parent a girl. I just think of all the extra stuff that is involved in raising girls, and how I still have some of those issues in my life even in my 20s. I guess I just don't feel qualified to handle all the extra things that go along with raising girls - like boys, and self-respect, body image yada yada yada - you know the rest.
And while I know many mothers of boys who, while they love their boys, wish in their heart of hearts for a little girl and all the tea parties, dress-up and easy bake ovens that eventually follow.

I guess I'm just not one of those people at this point.

But on the other hand, I could just be a lazy parent. With boys, I say, give em some swords and some protective eyewear and you're good to go. And another plus - when you leave the house they're maintenance free - a little spit on your hand and a good rub over the kid's head and you've got a well groomed little boy ready for Sunday service.