Let's Hear It for the Boys

When I was pregnant, people always asked me, "When are you due?" or "How are you feeling?" As a new mom, I got, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Now, as the mother of two boys, women constantly ask me "So, are you going to try for that girl?" When I tell them that my husband and I have decided not to have any more children, they always look disappointed. And I find that increasingly frustrating! At the bookstore recently, I actually had a woman in a cream-colored pantsuit say "No more babies? But you won't get to plan a wedding without a girl!" Planning my own wedding was enough for me, lady. Why would I need to procreate purely so that I can experience tulle for a second time?

I know I should just let those kinds of questions roll off my back. I should smile and nod and say, "We'll see," while secretly knowing that my two sons are enough for me. But I just can't sit back and tolerate the implication that without a little girl, my life will be incomplete. What is it about having little girls that means so much to these women? Is it the old adage that girls will grow up to be closer to their mothers than boys? Trust me, I've heard that one a million times and I think it's completely bogus. Who's to say that my boys won't be close to me, purely because of their gender?

I love my two boys and wouldn't change anything about them. Not their gender. Nothing. (Well, maybe their fascination with the insides of their own noses, but that's a different story.) And I really believe that I was meant to have boys because, honestly, I'm more cut out for them. They're loud and funny and my living room has become just one big Hot Wheels racetrack and I revel in it all. Insinuating that my life would be more fulfilling with a daughter totally kills me!