I remember having a discussion with a fitness instructor (and mother of three teens) shortly after I'd given birth to my second daughter. I told her I had another girl and she made a face and said..."Oh God...you poor woman...I'd have THREE more boys before I'd have another girl. Girls are soooo much work...the drama and the emotions, ugh..." and she went on & on.
All the while I'm standing there thinking...what's your point? I can't return her now. I'm pretty much stuck with the kids God gave me so...um...thanks for your support.
The truth is, I wanted another girl because I desperately wanted Kelly to have a sister. And, frankly, girl stuff (clothes, activities, crafts, etc.) is much more interesting to me. So, I was thrilled to have two daughters.
Here then — for all you parents of girls — are the top 10 things I love about having daughters (and then 5 things I don't..which I'm sure you can all relate to...and that all of the parents of boys can thank their lucky stars they don't have to deal with).
1. The colors. Each week I have an entire load of pinks and another load of purples. Life -- and certainly laundry -- with two girls is quite colorful. In many, many ways.
2. Playing dress-up. Though both of my girls have outgrown their umpteen princess dress-up dresses, I will always cherish the days they wouldn't take them off. We went everywhere in princess dresses -- the grocery store, birthday parties, the doctor's office -- I let them wear them anywhere they wanted to because I knew it wouldn't last.
3. Arts & crafts. I love making macaroni bracelets, cardboard-box puppet stages, egg-carton flowers and glitter-covered pinwheels almost as much as the girls do.
4. Hair accessories. I could spend my paycheck on hair accessories at Claire's -- headbands, bows, hair clips, combs ... I get to live my goddess-hair fantasies through my daughters.
5. Chick flicks. Though my girls are too young to appreciate a real chick flick, we have a shared love of little-chick flicks like Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and my all-time favorite, Mary Poppins.
6. Giggling. There's no sound on earth more beautiful to me than my daughters giggling over some grade-school knock-knock joke or some silly thing one of them keeps doing just to make the other one laugh.
7. Cuddling. The girls relish any opportunity to hug, cuddle or show affection. Though, I've heard that boys are just as affectionate as girls (if you can catch them and make them stop running long enough to sit), particularly once they are teens (that's what all my friends with teen boys say anyway).
8. Shopping. They both love to shop. This will probably be a bad thing one day, but for now..it's nice to have a pair of mini-me's to take to the mall that are as excited about the new Halloween soap dispensers at Bath and Body Works as I am.
And, now...5 things that parents of boys can celebrate never having to deal with:
1. Long hair -- particularly tangled, knotted, bed-head, matted long hair. Every school day morning when I try and brush, comb and twist their hair into something presentable, I -- just for a moment -- wish they were boys.
2. Whining. Girls are born whining. I never thought much about this (probably because I'm so used to it) until I spent some time with friends who had boys the same age and realized that I hadn't heard him whine all day (hit things, break things, turn everything into a weapon, run nonstop...sure...but...I never once heard him go "buutttt...wwwwwhhhhyyyyyyyy????").
3. Tights. Just like pantyhose, I'm convinced that tights were invented to make a woman's life hell. They're expensive, they're a pain to put on, they fall down all day and they're easily ruined after one fall on the playground.
4. Shrieking. My youngest has a Mini-Mouse voice. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. It's loud, shrill, squeaky and I pray every week she will outgrow it. When she screams -- which she does often at her sister -- it's a shriek that could break glass.
5. The drama. Everything...and I mean...everything is a big deal. I remember when my oldest was 3 and overreacting about something -- my husband said..."man, I can't wait for this to end." I asked him what he meant. "You know, this...this drama...everything is such a big deal." I laughed and said..."hate to tell you this, honey, but...that is never going to end."
Comments (2)
Having 2 girls myself, I would have to agree with everything on this list! Particularly the shopping... what can I say!
Posted by Chad | September 27, 2008 10:15 AM
Posted on September 27, 2008 10:15
People act that way to me, too, (with having two girls) and I don't understand it. If I were to have another, I'd want another girl. Granted, they are more expensive then boys (prom dress/tux rental, cheer outfit/football outfit, etc) but that is how things are all of our lives (wedding gowns/tux rental). I love, love, love having girls and after hoping for a healthy baby I was hoping both of mine were girls. I have 7 nephews if I want to see boys. But to have and raise, I will take my girls any day of the week.
Posted by M | September 30, 2008 9:32 AM
Posted on September 30, 2008 09:32