Mama in the City

The other day a woman with a baby girl on her hip and an older boy in tow came up to me and asked me a question about my own two boy/girl. She wanted to know if I found raising a boy and a girl a very different experience as a parent. Raising Ben and Josie has definitely been two totally opposite parenting experiences for us, but is it because they'e a boy and a girl?

We all know that Ben was a high needs fussy baby and bloomed into this sweet caring toddler. I don't think he ever had a tantrum in his 2's or 3's and we were mostly able to rationalize with him and he slept like a charm. He was a fantastic little toddler and totally opposite of his tumultuous first year. Of course, he likes trucks and likes to wrestle and talk about spiders.

We quickly discovered that using the same parenting skills with Josie we used with Ben weren't really working the same. Josie is a lot more vocal than her big brother and I could compare most major toddlerhood characteristics and they would be opposite. It is a constant battle to get her to stay in her stroller and she wants to be independent and just walk (girl thing or second child thing or...?). After the mother stopped and asked me the question I couldn't help but wonder if these differences are really a boy vs girl thing.


Do you think that boys and girls are that different? Is it as simple as just being a 'girl' thing or a 'boy' thing?


'This is my ride'.


Don't touch the ice cream, she will cry real tears in despair.


No more pics, she's warned you.