Normally I don't pay attention to email forwards but one I got today, called "Why boys need parents," caught my attention since I write a blog about parenting two little girls. Using pictures, the email illustrates the activities boys engage in, albeit despite the fact they have parents. (Perhaps a more appropriate title should be, "Why boys need parents who give a sh*t," or something like that.)
Anyway, I'm not sure the depictions here apply only to boys. In fact I'm sure there is sexism going on. Take, for example, this picture, where a small male baby has crawled into a fridge. Grace did the same thing this past weekend. She loves to crawl into the fridge and the pantry and tries to do the same with the microwave, the kitchen drawers and the oven. So strike one.
This next one is probably accurate - while there is a small chance a girl would do this, neither Grace nor Audrey is likely to end up doing aerial tricks on a bike into the shallow part of a lake. That's just stupid.
Boys don't need fathers for this next one - it's in their DNA. In fact this one should be included in an email called, "Why girls need fathers." Audrey and Grace wouldn't be caught dead wearing that. The only other comment I'd have here is if that were my daughter, you'd see me standing there with a shotgun and that kid would be running scared.
Looking at this next one, Grace and even Audrey still try to stick their fingers and other objects into electrical sockets. Note this photo is in black and white, however, which means it was probably taken before they had those little plastic plugs you shove into all your empty sockets when you have little kids running around. So when Audrey and Grace try to do this we don't tend to worry. If you're a parent nowadays and you don't use those little plastic plugs, perhaps child protective services ought to pay you a visit. Strike two.
Strikes three and four here. Just a few weeks ago, before we knew what was happening, Audrey grabbed a beer of mine and helped herself. Fortunately it was empty and she only got a drop. And Grace would happily take a swig if we let her. Of course, I'm not against the "European" model of letting kids have a bit here and there as they grow up. That way they are less inclined to go off the deep end when they get to college.
The boy jumping into leaves is something Audrey would certainly do. She loves to back our beanbag up against the bottom of our stairs, climb five or so stairs up, and jump down into it. Usually it's not the height that worries me, it's her clearing the stairs - that's why I'm there telling her which stair she has to stop on.
This last one is my favorite, even if it is photo-shopped. You've got to have some serious cojones to do this, and if you're predisposed to doing this sort of thing it probably doesn't matter what your parents told you. I just hope he made it.
