boys vs. girls

So, I checked out the feminists’ websites, and there doesn’t seem to be a place among them for a traditional stay-at-home mom. I guess I’ll have to start another society: Women Who Want All Women Treated With Respect, Without Having to Make a Big Fuss About Anything Or Veering Off Into Various Political Discussions That Most Women Really Don’t Agree With (WWAWTWRWHTMABFAAOVOIVPDTMWRDAW)

Is that a winner or what?

The whole thing makes me consider critically the area of gender differences. I feel like my home is a good study of that: two girls and two boys, all with very distinct personalities.

I have an eldest son (ten) who is the quintessential alpha male: quick to anger, quick to lead, not good at spelling or grammar but fascinated by science. His goal in life? Stay home with his kids and fix engines.

My next child, nine, is also a boy. He has very few of the typical ‘boy’ characteristics. He is good in all academic subjects, and has zero common sense. He wants to study bugs or teeth, and has no interest in caring for anything, much less children, except perhaps creepy crawly things.

The seven yr old girl is prime cheerleading material (agh!) and only has interest in learning as it pertains to relationships. She finds a friend wherever we go. Her playtime typically revolves around salons, babies, and waiting tables.

Then there is the baby- toddler, really- who at three and a half appears to be a miniature version of me. Spunk and rottenness, through and through. I don’t know where she’ll fit in with the family yet, though her volatile emotions and eagerness to defend her territory seem to be most in line with her eldest brother. She loves baby dolls too, but is quick to tackle anyone she thinks she can take on. She also screams a lot.

Despite all these personality quirks, one thing stands out: the boys are boys and the girls are girls. The girls are sensitive to subtleties and eager to care for things. The boys exhibit some of these tendencies, but not nearly to the same degree. Simultaneously, the emotional demands of the boys are very real, but very easy to deal with. The girls, however, are bottomless vortexes of needs and emotions; unutterably exhausting! And that is really just a small portion of the vast differences between my boys and girls. I thoroughly believe that all people, without regard to sex, age, ethnicity, or hair style, should be treated with the same measure of respect, as humans created in the image of God, who is neither male nor female (though he currently relates to us as a father and king). But we can be treated the same while affirming our differences, rather than pretending that those differences are meaningless, or buying into the Western stereotype of what makes a man (beer and football) and what makes a woman (big boobs and gossip).