C.J. asks from Frisco, TX on February 04, 2010
I Hate "Boy Stuff" - Bad Mom?
Ask anyone - I am the froofiest, girly-est, pinkest GIRL you could ever imagine.
So for me to have a BOY shocked everyone!
I've been pretty good about it, but it's been wearing on me since Christmas with the addition of all of the "big boy toys".
So here's my CONFESSION:
I don't know how to play with trucks. I don't like to play trains. I hate to put Geo-Trax together. I'm tired of watching Thomas.
I want to watch Cinderella and paint fingernails. I want to buy dresses and glittery shoes. I want to shop in the girls department that is 75% bigger than the boys department that has nothing in it!
I don't like crashing into things with dump trucks and making loud noises. And I don't like MONSTER trucks or REAL monsters that apparently have boogers!
Is this totally rotten? Am I just having a bad day or have you ever felt the same way? I am just sooooooo over the boy aggression today! I want kind & gentle toys. Books & dolls, dress up and shopping carts. Things that are familiar. Not loud and crass!
Maybe it's PMS.
- RRRRRRRhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
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So What Happened?™
Good Gawd! So much for being honest and venting. As if no one else with boys has ever gritted their teeth after being used as a human trampoline or "rawrrrrrrrred" at one too many times after the 100th game of "chase the dinosaur"!
Fine, points well taken and lesson learned.
Please, no more soapbox lectures -
And for those of you that offered one...get off your high horses, I too have lost a baby (read previous posts for proof, I am grateful for the one child that I have. I suggested that I was having a bad day and I really just wanted to "girlfriend vent" to see if anyone ever felt my level of frustration or "closet longing" for the opposite gender.
But again... lesson learned. Thanks for the harsh reality check for being honest.
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K.G. answers from Seattle on February 04, 2010
I actually like Thomas which is my 5 year old's favorite toy. I don't like the monsters that my other boy likes, I don't get them but I guess it's all about the action. I don't know how more sweet girls can be though as I don't have many around but even as my boys are, fully boyish, they are the cutest, they are so fun and they the people I miss the most when I am at work or they have gone to bed. I miss them every moment, I miss their noises, their pokemon guys and their sweet smiles. Silly little boys.
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D.W. answers from Indianapolis on February 05, 2010
I have the opposite problem. I am not a girly girl and don't enjoy manicures, shopping, all the normal girl things. But, if my daughter wants to do them, of course I'll do them with her.
We have both a daughter and a son - though each is completely drawn to toys for their own gender, there are a lot of neutral toys that you can play with too (blocks, play-doh, Mr/Mrs. Potato Head, etc).
Maybe this next comment will also help put it into a different perspective: I was diagnosed with cancer the day before my son's second birthday and when my daughter was 10 weeks old. Even if I don't want to do something with them because I'm not interested (I hate Max and Ruby), I remember what hell 5 months of chemo to beat cancer was like and how much of a gift every moment of every day is with them. They are now 3.5 and 22 months, and I hope I never lose sight of that life lesson.
It's not wrong of you not to enjoy those things. When you have time to yourself, indulge in all the girly things you like to do. But, for his sake, engage with him in the things he likes.
For the record, our son does have dolls, a shopping cart, etc. We don't care of he plays with his sister's toys (both love Barbie and Polly Pocket)
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R.S. answers from Dallas on February 05, 2010
I know it's against the motherhood code, but I firmly believe that sometimes it's o.k. to feel this way and not feel guilty about it. That said, here are my suggestions. What do you and your son have in common? Can you introduce him to something you love that could be the activity you do together? For example, star-gazing, cooking (if you make it messy he will love it!), gardening, reading, bowling, tennis. Whtever it is, it needs to be active (boys need to be moving) and it needs to be fun for both of you. His memories will be of the special thing he and mom did together.
And no matter how you feel that day, a hug, a kiss, and an "I love you more than all the monster trucks in the world" go a long way when you've been in a bad mood.
You're not a bad mom. You're human.
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R.M. answers from Nashville on February 04, 2010
Gasp! You actually admit you don't love every gross thing about your boy?! Just kidding, I'm sorry but your post made me giggle :D I have a 2 yr old boy, and coming from a family of three sisters, I have been constantly surprised how different they are. I'm not even super girly, I never wear pink or froofy stuff. But I also don't know how to make the right vroom noises or get excited about trains. Some days I just can't stand playing ONE MORE game of crash (this game has no rules, or even set pieces. It just involves crashing one thing into another thing, usually some part of my head.) So I can only imagine how you feel. I agree with the last poster, we are all still little girls at heart. So I just try to remind myself what I was like at 13. And I look at other mom's little girls and how high maintenance they are from day one, but at three it seems to be soo much worse. Boys are pretty low maintenance. I am greatful for that. I guess I will just have to get used to the farts and boogers and using my head as a spring board for his dinosaurs. :)
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A.B. answers from Dallas on February 05, 2010
So as a "girly,girl" mommy to a precious little man ....There will always be more girl stuff. Compare the men's section with the women's section in any store, it's always going to be that way.
I think as a society we put too much emphasis on "gender appropriate" things to do. We assume little boys play in the dirt and little girls play with dolls. But, I know a heck of a lot of girls that play in the dirt. But the truth is, little boys still need to be nurturing and caring toward others; it's not just something that only little girls are capable of. Any yes, I don't see you sitting down with your little boy to paint his fingernails, but you still can paint yours and he can help.or face paint, Or he can finger paint on a piece of paper, which could get a little messy =) I guess I'm trying to say, as a woman you may not find all this "boy stuff" appealing , but as a mommy you have a whole world to show him and it doesn't just have to be trucks, trains and boogers.
I read a book in college by Bell Hooks, " The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love". I recommened it to any mommy of a little boy=)
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K.D. answers from Dallas on February 05, 2010
Do you know how many of my friends can't have children? You are lucky to have one and a healthy one at that. Try to enjoy the fact that he can actually play with trains and trucks. Try to think less about yourself and more about your child and how you can be a better mom. I hate to be blunt but when you have children it's not about you anymore...
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A.K. answers from Boston on February 05, 2010
Hi, there~
I was in absolute shock when the ultrasound technician told me I was pregnant with twins. Ten minutes later when the neonatologist told me she was pretty sure they were both boys, I was in double shock! I already had a daughter so I was glad that was out of the way. Nevertheless, I was worried about what I was going to do with boys. It turned out that little boys were their own special joy that I never imagined in a million years. (Picture this: They used to play army, march around the yard singing and holding little flags on sticks. The upper level of the swing set was their fort. It was so adorable when they pulled up all sorts of ferns from the woods behind the house and stuffed the ferns into the slats on the sides of the upper area so their fort was camouflaged. Very imaginative.)
Anyway, I found that my little boys had a lot more in common with little girls than I ever expected. Mine liked to dance, sing, and shake tambourines & maracas to Disney music, and they loved to put on shows for us just like my daughter. Usually the shows involved music, singing and dancing.
They loved the toy kitchen with all the plastic food (male chefs?)--plus a cash register and a few plastic trays. In fact, little boys like to help cook just like little girls do. They also loved their plastic work bench. In fact, they tugged on my heart one day around 5 yo when they opened Daddy's tool box in the garage and were trying to take apart their bicycles. I looked at them and thought, "They're practicing being like their Daddy."
They loved their stuffed animals (and still won't let me put them away at age 11), and all 3 used a pop-up fire truck for a very long time. Most of the books we read weren't specifically for boys or girls so I wasn't forever making truck noises. (I even found that I really enjoyed the matchbox cars, probably more than they did. Did you ever see the VW van with the peace sign or the pop-up camper? adorable!)
All of the kids enjoyed playing with the Little Tikes farm with extra animals while one son really got into dinosaurs--plastic ones and lots of books. Instead of Polly Pockets, the boys enjoyed a knights and castle set immensely. The clothes were removable, etc. Same with Barbie/Ken-type dolls, i.e., firefighters, soldiers, etc., whose clothes could be changed. Instead of pocketbooks, they came with walkie talkies. Different, yes, but not too bad. All three, esp. one boy and my daughter, loved to play with Legos for hours of fun, albeit her houses had elaborate pools and more details.
One of the very best toys I had for my kids were two laundry baskets full of dress-up clothes. The boys enjoyed hats, scarves, clip-on ties, vests, old Halloween costumes, and even their sister's flower headbands and old dance costumes. They even liked getting their fingernails polished when they saw me or their sister having it done.
One of the other best toys they all loved were arts and crafts materials. Our whole dining was an arts and crafts room. (Now it's my jewelry designing room!) The boys liked coloring books, cutting, gluing, stickers, painting...you name it. The boys even made decorated Valentine's for school. Play-Doh was lots of fun, too, using a mini rolling pin, toy knife, small plastic cookie cutters, etc., etc.
I've said many times that little girls grow up to be big girls, but little boys grow up to be men. This is most likely one of the only tender, sensitive, and vulnerable times in their lives before they become whiskery, deep voiced, muscular, and all of the other typical stereotypes. Potentially, you'll never have more influence on any male than the influence you have in the lives of your little boys during their childhood years.
I hope this gives you some ideas and/or a different view. Just try to find some gender-neutral activities that you'll enjoy more, too. Don't beat yourself up. I'm sure plenty of mothers through the centuries have felt the same way. I found pushing kids on swings to be very boring and had a real aversion to tossing a ball over and over and over to kids who couldn't catch. Bad mother I was! LOL Good luck.
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B.F. answers from Dallas on February 05, 2010
Yep, Been there, Done that. I have two boys and have felt that "what am I doing in THIS world" feeling. Find a play group, and when you do you won't be surprised to find that most of the mothers there have boys! We all long for some girl time and girl talk and less movement! I belong to a Moms in Touch prayer group that I have been to since Elementary School and now college and most of us along the way have boys. Today is just a bad day for you and I have every reason to believe you will seek and find balance in your life...it will drive you to it:) You will come to appreciate boys like you never have before.. their explosions of expressions and then perfect calm and harmony and the sweetest expressions of love. Hang in there!
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H.S. answers from Boston on February 05, 2010
It probably is PMS....
But good for you that you can be honest about it, because facing your feelings will make them easier to deal with.
All I can do is to encourage you to foster the softer side in your boys. In the long run we all want them to become caring men who can be good husbands and fathers. Think about those qualities and don't hesitate to get your sons a doll or pretend groceries. Have them help you cook and clean up. Pick other books than Thomas books and make some rules around not watching the same show all the time. There are plenty of good TV shows that attract both boys and girls and may be kinder on you! Boys need little toys too to improve fine motor skills and they need to color to get reading for writing. Open their horizon on other things to play with, and you will be much happier. It may not be pink, but you probably will settle for yellow too.
You are still the parent and have some choices what you want your child exposed to.
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