July 31, 2008

What do you want for Christmas?

Innernets, let it be officially known that I want this:


The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector's Edition by J.K. Rowling

Come to me, my precious.

Wait, wrong reference. Whatever. Hubba hubba. ME WANT THIS.

Okay, now that Christmas 2008 is taken care of, let me move on to some scraps of Specifically Random for you......

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While carousing on Amazon, I looked up the Twilight Saga series by Stephenie Meyer. Why do I do this to myself?? Why? Am feeling an overwhelming compulsion to head to Border's immediately after dropping Arun off at school this morning. I suspect, resistance is futile.

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In other news, Blogger is now allowing for email responses to comments. Finally! Folks, you can look forward to that feature coming soon to a blog near you. It has always bothered me that I could not respond personally to comments.

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Finally, a bit of a rant for you. It has been that sort of week with the blogosphere rife with negativity. Might as well get this one out of my system.....

I am SO excited for Leah and Simon that they found out they are having a boy. Truly, having a boy has been so much damned fun. And yes, having a girl has been just as much fun. I always wanted two boys and one girl. While I will not get that 2nd boy, I am so grateful that I have one of each.

However. As the mother of a boy, what I have not enjoyed is the rude comparisons between my boy and my girl.

Everyone knows the word "misogynist", right? It is such an oft-used word these days, it would be difficult not to be familiar with it. Well, how about misandrist, defined as "someone who harbors a basic hatred of men"? As the mother of a boy, it became clear to me how many women out there simply do not care for the male species. It is absolutely shocking to me how many people think it is perfectly acceptable to inform you of all the so-called "bad character traits" of boys. And I have heard some doozies - boys are hellions, boys are aggressive, boys do not like to snuggle, boys do not like books, boys are destructive. I find all those comments not only insulting to my son, but also to my husband and my father, two of the most affectionate men I know.

Am I alone in this? Am I over-sensitive to this?

And if I hear the following quote one more time, it will be too soon:
A son is a son til he gets him a wife,
A daughter is a daughter for the rest of her life.

12 comments:

Goofy Girl said...

Yeh, as the mom of two boys now, I also find it a little weird how the stereotype of the "hellion boy" is perpetuated. Most the boys in Goofy Junior's daycare are very nice, polite little guys. And there is a fair share of hellion little girls.

Nowadays, I really don't think it matters what sex your child is. It just depends on the kid. Equal opportunity hellionness is possible! (and equal opportunity good kid-ness too)

p.s. And you SO need to read the Twilight series. Great brain candy!! (sorry)

Marilyn said...

OMG, YES. I have a "friend" who's situation was much like mine in that she had two boys and then her third was a girl. And when I found out my third was a girl she kept telling me, "Oh you'll *love* your girl. They're so different." She was constantly making comments about how boys are stinky, boys are rough, boys are blah blah blah.

Made me wanna punch her in the face. I LOVE MY BOYS! And I've known plenty of ass-hat girls so there's that too. ;)

Dooneybug said...

I've heard so much about that Twilight series that I might just have to check it out.

Ok, who the hell would say something so stupid about sons not being sons after getting a wife but a daughter is a daughter forever? Boys and girls are different, that's just biological. The male and female species each have their positives and negatives. My son LOVES to read books and he's a great snuggler so I don't understand why someone would generalize a gender that way. I think those of us who really get it need to just speak up in those situations.

Anonymous said...

re:Beetle and the Bard...Yeeeesh
re: Twilight series...I gots them ,you can borrows them.
re: boys vs girls I have two boys. And they are so completely different. But both are snugglers one is aggressive one is thoughtful...one is has no fear the other is overly cautious

I've never understood other peoples propensity to tell you all about your children and what you should be doing differently (usually while they are feeding their own kids diet coke and those kids are beating the crap out of yours)

Have you seen the under miner? They are uncomfortable because they always remind me of someone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8TY4LSdjLI

Dee said...

Personally I'm much more terrified of raising a girl than a boy, simply because I'm a bit of a tomboy myself. I'm so very happy that I get the chance to experience both though. My boy is soft and cuddly on some days and a total terror on others. I can't say much about the girl yet, but I have a feeling she'll be exactly the same.

Unknown said...

WOW -- I'm so psyched about being to email back commenters on blogger... Must look into that!!!

CPA Mom said...

in a similar vein, I was JUST telling my husband how annoyed I was at the drugstore tonight, when the cashier gushed over my daughter (how CUTE!!!) and ignored my son standing.right.next.to.her.

What? He's not cute because he is a boy?! I beg to differ.

I'm addicted to the Twilight books too. It's a sickness.

Chocolate Covered Susan said...

I have to second you on the boy thing. Mine is so snuggly, happy and sweet! Now that I have a boy, I really hope that the third baby (if we choose to have one) will be a boy, too!! Of course, he has made a good case for himself by being a much easier baby than my girl was.

Anonymous said...

I have at least one girl that would give most boys a run for their money as far as crap she gets into etc and my sweet baby girl won't snuggle unless you are supplying her with Pirates Booty so my thoughts are kids are kids and having an x or a y does not mean they are going to act or not act a certain way

Now, tell me about the Twilight series...I have been interested but haven't had time to pursue and am very interested in your thoughts.

Also was serious about a night out at La Bodega - I have been given homework and it involves me being out of the house without kids/hubby - are you game?

Diana said...

Siiiiiiigh. I was so hoping she'd release the book for the rest of us. Now I know what I want for Christmas, too.

Hm. Just got a nice hug from my son as he was walking by. Little (and big) boys are lovely. As are girls. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs a wet flounder slapped across their face.

Anonymous said...

Hi Everyone:
I was just reading your comments and it's nice to see a group talking about the good qualities of boys. I don't know much about the Twilight books, but the Time Soldier series of books for boys is great, I think. They celebrate and use the raw power of boys to get them into reading. Although lots of boys seem to read less, statistically anyway, after fifth grade, a close look reveals there are really good reasons for this, and they have nothing to do with failures on the part of boys-- I'm talking about it on my blog right now, if you want to take a look...
www.superkidsread.com.
I'll have to check out those Twilight books too.
Thanks everyone,
Amanda Lynne

Anonymous said...

Not having a boy myself, I feel a little unequipped to participate in this conversation, but comments from moms who have children of both sexes have always made me fear having a boy. My personal philosophy says that boys and girls are fundamentally the same, but everyone wants to tell me that it isn't true in practice. As for the cute little rhyme, it's an awful thing to tell moms of boys. With that in mind, though, I have to say that most of my guy friends are closer to their mothers-in-law (especially after they have children) than they are to their own mothers. I think it has a lot to do with how unlikely it is for a new mom to turn to her mother-in-law in times of trouble with a new baby, when the wife tends to be the primary decision-make in home life. I'm not really trying to make a value statement with any of this. They're just things I've thought about myself.