Boys VS. Girls

SHE SAID:

I think everyone should feel sorry for me. I am stuck in a house with 4 boys, Tony, and about to give birth to a 5th boy. Four times the belching and passing gas and pee on the back of the toilet... Four times saying "we do not pass gas at the dinner table" (through their giggling and laughter, by the way) or "say excuse me when you belch" (even though they sound like a trucker).

What happened to me having a little girl? What happened to my little girl that would think that bugs were icky and would go shopping with me and dresses and pretty little sandals and pigtails? I guess someone just figured that I was better suited raising boys instead of girls. Tony has a daughter that is going to be 18 this summer. I came into the picture when she was 16, so she was already so far past the cutesie stage it wasn't funny. She had lapped that one. And, while she is a great great girl, I never once got to buy her a cute little dress and patent leather mary janes.

Ah, well, I digress. The point is moot, right? At least I know that I am still the Queen Bee in my house.. because my boys tell me I am. They are very protective of Mama and I like it that way. I could always look at it like this, too: if I did have a girl at this point, she would probably be worse than the boys anyway. She would be catching frogs and bugs and would be climbing trees and getting dirty. Just like having another boy.. only this one would have hormones once puberty hits.

So next time I look over and see a little girl digging in her nose, I'll hug my boys tight. And be thankful.

HE SAID:

Well now. How do I take this? I'm not sure whether or not I was just insulted as a member of the male species. Maybe what we have here is distortion of stereotypes.

Here's an example: Let's say we have a 10 year-old boy and a 30 year-old man out at a local bistro. And you come across them while they are belching and farting and laughing about it. What happens? Maybe (if you are of the female persuasion) you are disgusted, but you soon forget about them.

Now example 2: We'll use the same ages, but we have a 10 year-old girl and a 30 year-old woman at the same bistro. And they are belching and farting and laughing hysterically. Now what? Well again (female persuasion) you are definitely disgusted, and everyone you know must hear about it. More than once.

I don't want to be chauvinistic so lets say a man comes along both of these scenes. He may or may not be disgusted, but will most likely chuckle about it and go on with his day, happier now that someone gave him something to chuckle about.

So what does this have to do with having a fifth boy? Let's just say that the overall stress level in the household will be lower than if we'd have a girl. Especially when Maria would come to the realization that I had turned her little girl into a Tom-boy, you know riding motorcycles, fishing and yes, catching frogs. And from experience, if you want to see stress you should have been around when my daughter became a full-blown teenager.

Sorry Maria, but it's better this way.