Boys and Girls

In many ways I am pleased that the little one is a boy.  Although as a girl I enjoyed playing with dolls, I also really enjoyed playing with cars and guns (a cap gun never seemed to bother people in the ‘70’s the way it does now).  Although I get roped into playing tea parties and shopping now, I’m pleased that the main themes here are construction and trains.  

Today I questioned my influence as a Mum; on how much am I skewing his interests to fit my own.  What if my preferences are more naturally boyish than his and I am pushing him more towards the cars and trains than he would naturally go?  Then, I realised that every time I have to build the Lego train station, or play with one that husband has built, I’m  always adding ‘girlie’ touches such as flowers by the door (sometimes on the roof....but they always end up somewhere).  I also tend to make sure that there are seats on the platform for the Lego people to rest their weary plastic legs or a cafe next door.  Left to themselves, the boys are content with a platform and a train.

On a day when the differences between men and women are under scrutiny for nagging, it makes you wonder how real the divide is between the way the sexes function and how early it really starts.