Boys Will Be Boys and Girls...Well, You Get The Idea

I find it quite amazing how naturally inherent different male and female characteristics are. I first noticed this with my daughter. When she was at an age where she began to exhibit stronger personality characteristics she started showing her definite "girl" tendencies. She wanted to (and still wants to) wear dresses all of the time, she played mommy to her dolls, she thought (and still thinks) that she is a princess, etc, etc. We never told her that she had to be "girly," we let her develop her own personality, and like the things that she wanted to like.

I really started thinking about this concept when my son came along and he reached the age where he started showing his real personality traits and preferences. I never forced my son to like certain stuff, he just did it on his own. But he is all boy! He loves trucks and cars, airplanes, watching sports with dad, helping dad fix things, etc. Of course he stills likes to play with his sister's dolls and My Little Ponies, but those occasions are seldom compared to how often he has a car in his hands making vroom vroom sounds.

The interesting thing is that my wife and I never encouraged our kids to develop one way or another. In our opinions it was perfectly acceptable if our daughter turned out a little tom-boyish or if our son wasn't so into the stuff that he is. It is amusing how our children have developed these cliché girl and boy personality traits.