Once again the time has gotten away from me and this blog has been greatly neglected. I swear I thought my last post was a mere few weeks ago, so imagine my suprise when I realized it was a month ago. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly life seems to speed by these days, if I look away for even a few seconds, bam, an entire month slips through my fingers.
Anyway, after reading my own thoughts on the whole boy/girl/nature/nurture I can see how unclear some of them may have seemed. The impetus for it was the stupid running commentary I keep hearing from family members and some friends about boys always being this way or that way, combined with the meteoric rise of the Dangerous Book for Boys to the Amazon top 100 books. No, I haven't read the book or even seen it in person, getting to a book store these days is still too much of a challenge these days and they don't carry it at my local Target's book section either (although given it's immense popularity it's just a matter of time before it does.) But as a matter of principle it bugs me that the authors couldn't have simply titled it the Dangerous Book for Kids and left it at that. I would have loved this book when I was a kid, but I'm sure the ridicule I would have likely faced from classmates when I checked it out of the school library would have discouraged me from doing so.
I still remember the peer pressure and ridicule of my adolescent years all too well, and I know that my kids will inevitably face that reality as they get older. I just want to make sure that I do whatever I can so that my kids learn to embrace diversity and individuality. I don't want them write things off because they are strictly for girls or for sissies or whatever, and I definitely don't want them to do something simply because that is what boys are supposed to do or are expected to do.
At the end of the day, I just want my kids to be themselves. I want them to become whoever they are going to become, unencumbered by stereotypes that require them to subvert their own emotions or personal talents in the name of being a boy/man. And I want them to understand that girls aren't any less capable or smart or fun than boys are. I want them to accept all kids at face value whether they are boys or girls. Because at the end of the day I think that's all any of us really want from our fellow humans, to be accepted and valued.
Now whether or not these lofty goals of mine are all that realistic, who knows.
Hi there! I've been a lurker on and off over the last few years; acutally I was the first comment on your blog years ago :) and I'm glad to see I was right and you have your beautiful twins. It is almost three years later and I'm still waiting on my blessing, but I know he or she will come in time.
:hugs to you:
Posted by: Sarah | June 12, 2007 at 02:05 PM