by Kate Willoughby Hall, Richmondmom.com Founder/CEO and proud mama of two wild boys and one sweet little girl 
Rockstar photo by Real Life Studios
It’s the long-waged battle and popular cocktail party conversation: boys are easier. No girls. But, boys are tougher when they’re young, and get easier as they get older. Girls are sweet little toddlers, then get you back in the teenage years.
I dunno. All I have is my own experience, and what I can observe of others, which I’ll share here. And I’d love your thoughts:
Boys:
-Loud. Louder. Loudest.
-Rough play. Running headlong and head-butting parents in legs is favored sport.
-Hate potty-training. Prefer wet and poopy pants to any type of nice, dry, underwear.
-Fart noises are innate. No one needs to teach this. Reenacting the real thing just comes naturally.
-Often will try to urinate anywhere but the bathroom. Again, not a learned behavior, this seems to be innate.
-Hitting is a favored sport. The harder, the better.
-Names pets “Turbo” and “Hydro” or “Earthbender”
-Need LOTS of outside time. Preferably running and howling at the wind.
Girls:
-Sweet, sedate as babies & toddlers.
-Prefer pink and purple and reading to stuffed animals.
-Think potty-training is the bomb and love their new pink underwear with butterflies. Lift dresses often to show them off.
-Thinks fart noises are gross and happy to exclaim this to all boys in the area. Except when boys are laughing then may engage in fart noises.
-May try to hit but has soft little hands and usually doesn’t hurt anything.
-Needs lots of outside time to push dollies in stroller and dance in ballerina slippers.
-Names pets “Snuggles” and “Lovey”
-Sass on occasion, hands on hips is a natural stance.
After having two boys, I thought I’d be one of those “moms of boys” and truly expected a third (it always annoyed me when people said “are you trying for a girl?” no. we were trying for a baby. unless something has changed, you don’t get to pick the gender.) When the ultrasound technician whispered to my oldest son that it was a girl, his face beamed. When they shared that news with us, we were floored. What would we do with a girl? We had Tonkas, Big Wheels and baseball bats?!
It’s funny how our little girl just fit right in. The boys immediately chose pink and purple toys and items for her room (“mama, she CAN’T have any blue toys”) and her little princes–lovin’ ways just seemed to complete the family. She did bring to light, however, just how rough the boys had been in those first five years, and how much we’d acclimated to being parents of two little powerhouses. She seemed easy.
What are your thoughts? Boys or girls? Or does it just depend on the kid, the birth-order, and the family?
