18 : Boys - Something Blue

Boys are Blue, Girls are Pink!

In our new politically correct gender neutral world sometimes our children can get lost in all of the fuss.  I have to say that generally boys and girls do behave and play differently, whether we like it or not.  I certainly have never forced 'boy' toys and games on my boys or 'girl' toys and games on my girls when they were young, however, I do go with the flow and let them loose on whatever takes their fancy.  

My boys, all four of them, have at different times tried playing with traditional girl toys.  However, if they have picked up a doll they tended to drive it at full speed in a truck smashing it against a wall, rather than rock it gently like my girls naturally seemed to do.  Every child has their own unique personality and sensitivities regardless of gender.  As parents we learn to adapt and allow our children's personalities to shine through and to manage each child according to their needs.  

I grew up referred to as a 'Tom Boy' as I enjoyed playing with boys and going on adventures, I absolutely detested dolls and wearing dresses.  However, I did enjoy 'looking after things' when I was a child and have grown up to be a mother of six children, despite my allergies to activities such as vacuuming, ironing and sewing.

There are no specific boy activities or girl activities that exclude the other, however, after having four boys and two girls I can say that all my children played quite differently.  Whether politically correct or not it was only my two girls that enjoyed playing at length with their baby dolls and dancing as fairies, tutus and all; enjoyed wearing dresses and patent leather shoes and caring for their appearance.  Both were very 'girly' and well exceeded my meager abilities to arrange and groom hair by the age of two!  All of my children have thoroughly enjoyed dressing up, however my boys have probably spent more time dressed as some sort of character than the girls have.  One of my son's was dressed as Father Christmas for six months!  You know who you are...  

The two youngest boys are both sensitive and artistic, yet they love to run at full speed, rough play scenes from their favourite shows and climb like monkeys over play equipment and hang with the dogs outside. Whether you want to say they are acting like boys or simply as children, these are a few snaps of my boys being 'themselves' one afternoon after school.  Judge for yourself...