I need to address this. I never once said I really wanted a girl, or that I really wanted a boy. And yet, I have had a lot of reactions from people that indicate that they feel sorry for me or something that I am having a boy. One woman even asked me if I was disappointed. Another person said, "well that's ok, boys are easier anyway." And I know a lot of well-meaning, sweet people who love their sons say this with no bad intentions, but when I hear about how much "boys love their moms" or that "boys are the best" I kind of sense that they are overemphasizing something completely obvious to make me feel better. I mean, if I was having a girl, I would assume that she would love me too.
I did/still admit that buying clothes for little girls is more exciting because the options are like 5:1::girls:boys... but when it comes to the relationship and love you have with your child, I don't really think shopping plays too much of a role. Obviously, I know more about girls because I am one. But other than that, when it comes down to the gender of a human being, I truly have never had a preference for this baby.
In most of the world, gender discrimination exists in a way that promotes baby boys and hurts baby girls. And we all agree this is terrible, right? But so far my experience in America has been that there are a lot of people out there who think having a baby boy is a consolation prize. It seems that in earlier decades of American culture, there was still this value placed on having a boy to carry on the family name. Like for instance, my grandma assumes that Thomas must just be "over the moon" about having a boy. Have yall experienced this at all? Or know what I am talking about? I love statistics, maybe you have some interesting gender statistics for me?
Anyway, I would just like to declare that we're having a baby boy, and I am VERY excited about it! No, I was not hoping for a girl. Yes, I understand there are advantages to having a boy, just like there are advantages to having a girl. I will admit that perhaps I am being overly sensitive about this issue, but I am really excited about our little boy, and I guess it just makes me feel a little deflated when people act like it's a let down.
I did/still admit that buying clothes for little girls is more exciting because the options are like 5:1::girls:boys... but when it comes to the relationship and love you have with your child, I don't really think shopping plays too much of a role. Obviously, I know more about girls because I am one. But other than that, when it comes down to the gender of a human being, I truly have never had a preference for this baby.
In most of the world, gender discrimination exists in a way that promotes baby boys and hurts baby girls. And we all agree this is terrible, right? But so far my experience in America has been that there are a lot of people out there who think having a baby boy is a consolation prize. It seems that in earlier decades of American culture, there was still this value placed on having a boy to carry on the family name. Like for instance, my grandma assumes that Thomas must just be "over the moon" about having a boy. Have yall experienced this at all? Or know what I am talking about? I love statistics, maybe you have some interesting gender statistics for me?
Anyway, I would just like to declare that we're having a baby boy, and I am VERY excited about it! No, I was not hoping for a girl. Yes, I understand there are advantages to having a boy, just like there are advantages to having a girl. I will admit that perhaps I am being overly sensitive about this issue, but I am really excited about our little boy, and I guess it just makes me feel a little deflated when people act like it's a let down.
And because I have no picture to go with this post, here I am at 22 weeks...
Love,
Lauren
PS - Thank you to my sister in law for the inspriation for this post!
No comments:
Post a Comment