let's hear it for the girls

The next generation of our family is girl strong. Alongside me, my sis and my sis-in-law there are eight girls. The menfolk may joke (and secretly fear no doubt) the special week every month where they will hide and quiver in the garden waiting out the PMT storm, but really we don't know what to expect with these girls. And that's fantastic.

We have created a family hub where no-one is typecast. Our girls are already so different to each other and so much the same: mainly in the cute, cheeky and chutzpah departments.

I wonder if other parents of girls get told by parents of boys that it must be so much easier raising girls. I'd be interested to know the parameters being used to define 'easier'!

Our house is chaos personified and that's all good. On any one day there will be reading, shouting, running, dressing up, playing rugby, singing, doing maths, being daft, fighting, playing minecraft, tidying their room, being clever, stomping upstairs, playing football, discovering stars, colouring, having time out on the stairs, setting the table, doing ballet, getting muddy, laughing with their friends, doing their hair, getting told off, giving us cuddles.

They love to hear their own voices and use them really loudly, especially when we are in public spaces. But every night they lie in one room silently turning pages lost in stories from Harry Potter to Rainbow Magic Fairies to Dennis the Menace.

I love that they are encouraged and empowered to explore interests of their choosing. At home and at school. And whilst they may not encounter the murky waters of sexism just yet, I hope the strength and vitality that they show now will remain with them in future years.

This post is linked up with Sticky Fingers : The Photo Gallery no.224 : Girls