Boys will be boys…

I grew up sandwiched between 2 brothers.  I think this gave me an interesting perspective on humanity.

Boys will be Boys; or maybe more to the point, Brothers will be Brothers. This means there wasn’t much discussion in my home about clothing, school, friends, girls; and whenever I decided to try my hand and heart at sulking, moping, whining or crying about clothing, school, friends or boys, it was met with… well, nothing.

I learned rather early-on that these tactics were just about worthless, at least in my home.

There was, basically, lots of gender neutrality; ie, I was not “the princess”.  I didn’t get the “best chair” for watching television or the first pancakes of the morning or the newest bike or the front seat of the car.  I trudged to the bus stop, laden with books in my book bag, with no-one ever saying, “Hey, Sis, can I carry that heavy bag for you?”

I didn’t get extra long time in our one bathroom.  I didn’t get more phone time (ah, it was the days of one phone  homes!). I didn’t have offers of, “Hey, Sis, can I get you anything while I’m up getting myself an ice cream Sundae, popcorn and a bowl of chips?”

I wasn’t immune to shoveling driveways, mowing lawns or going to the town dump with my Dad (in his old truck!).

All of this taught me to be… well, self sufficient. All of this taught me to be independent.  All of this taught me that girls are equal to boys.  Ah, ha!

What my brothers unknowingly taught me was that there are no boundaries in the gender world.  I played baseball and basketball with boys, went hardcore sledding with boys, played hockey with boys, competed like a boy and married a man who loved me for knowing how to do all of the above.

My daughters Audrey and Jane are blessed to have 2 older brothers who also, in the most loving way possible, treated them, and still treat them, with gender neutrality.  “Who’s gonna ski down that black diamond trail with me?” kind of love.

And this brings me to our newest little addition to our family… Audrey and Matt’s 5th child, a girl due to arrive in July, who will be greeted with 4 older brothers, 3 older boy cousins, and 2 ‘tween girl cousins who are a perfect combination of feminine and tough-as-nails.

Oh, my.

Will this baby sister be “the princess”?  I’m not so sure about this.  I’m not so sure that her 4 brothers will give her much slack when it comes to sulking, moping, whining or crying about clothing, school, friends or boys.

I’m thinking more like they’ll have her turning stuffed animals into basketballs…

And then trying to figure out how to get the “bearsketballs” out of the net…

Well, at least if this Grandma with lots of boy-experience has anything to do with it!

(Of course, this is not to say that the baby sister can’t play “bearsketball” in a Cinderella dress, tiara and glass slippers.)