Before the stork dropped three daughters on my doorstep I had secretly wished I wanted boys. Somehow I thought it might be easier to raise sons than girls? Why? Who knows? After teaching for so many years in a London comp maybe I worried about the impact that boys have on girls. The way that smart, independent, strong girls transform into doe-eyed, giggly, hair-swishing monsters between years eight and nine (that's ages 13-14 in old money) drove me crazy in the classroom. But deep down there was the fear that I could one day open the door to a crying, distraught, pregnant teen or a daughter that had been molested or raped. I appreciate that there are loads of great teen moms - I've taught a couple and was raised by one - and boys can be abused too. But hey this is my story; my world; my scary thoughts.
Back to me and the stork. So anyway I was overjoyed at the arrival of happy, healthy girls - of course. And me and the GeordieLad soon came to realise that the way we raise them plus the way they want to be equalled the girls we have in this house. But this post is supposed to be about boys - shouts The Gallery collective Yes, yes I'm getting there.
If you were to take a look around the 3G's domain you'd find garages, cars, dinosaurs, space stuff, football, rugby, Thomas the Tank Engine, Beast Quest, Rory the Racing Car, Spiderman (oh he's King in our house), and now Iron Man amongst the pink and the Barbies.
Two out of the 3G play rugby for our local club. Two out of the 3G refuse categorically to wear anything other than trousers for their school uniform. In fact one of the 3G will only wear clothes from the 'boys' section. Hey ho. Life's too short for arguing.
The thing is me and the GeordieLad are all good with this. It seems that other people have the problem. I spent many of the toddler years coaxing aforementioned two into frilly dresses that well-meaning friends and family would buy for them. The look of shock when I proudly mention BigL's latest triumph on the rugby field (and no the shock is not because she's playing rugby at ten years old). And then there's this... a playground mother after discovering that I had three girls asking me if that was the reason I was raising my youngest child 'as a boy - because you wanted a boy but don't want any more children'.
Purlease.
