As most of you know, my first child is a boy. I already had a niece and was ecstatic to have given my parents their first grandson. Boy are simple. Cars, trucks, short hair, no nail polish, no dresses, etc.
A girl is a whole new experience.
Growing up I was a tomboy. Dresses and skirts were a rare sight in my closet (unless my grandma had made me a dress) and I wore my hair super short. In high school I let it grow to my shoulders and never once pulled it back into a ponytail. That didn't happen until college when the AC was turned off in our dorms and the hot weather lasted into October.
I never experimented with makeup and never got my ears pierced. Neither one interested me. I played sports almost year round in junior high and then volleyball all through high school. The only time I had my nails done was prom or the style revue for the County Fair. I did wear makeup for my wedding but of course, someone else applied it.
I dated a few boys in junior high which consisted of meeting at the movies every weekend and hanging out at high school sporting events. My first kiss was in 7th or 8th grade and was nothing special. The first guy I "seriously" dated in high school was 2 years older than me. We dated maybe 6 months and only kissed once. We drove around together every weekend, he made me laugh and he was easy to talk to. After we broke up, a friend asked me to prom. That friend is now my husband.
The point being I have limited experience with boys, therefore, I feel I will not be able to provide good advice when my girls start dating.
Having 3 girls scares me to death. My oldest daughter rarely wants to wear her hair in a ponytail and I'm sure it's due to the fact that I rarely did anything with her hair when she was a toddler. She's going to be my girly girl I think. She's interested in nail polish, some jewelry, and wants to wear a dress almost every day. Lately she's asked to put nail polish on herself to which I've happily said yes. The first time she attempted it she had trouble with her thumb which I told her can be tricky. She kept smudging the polish and then when she tried to fix it all that happened was it would clump up. That made her frustrated and she got upset. At that moment I got scared for all the other girl experiences that would happen in our house: pre teen attitude, mean girls, body image problems, advice about boys and heartache, just to name a few.
My 4 year old isn't as interested in girl stuff yet. She likes to have her nails painted and that's about it. Hates having her hair brushed and she got my curly/wavy hair. She's more of a tomboy, but she's got the attitude of a teenager.
Despite all the concerns I have about raising 3 daughters, there are also many positive experiences I'm looking forward to having with them. Playing dress up, picking out homecoming and prom dresses, being the mother of the bride and their being pregnant.
And I can send them to my sister-in-law for all the makeup, nail polish, hair and fashion tips they could every need and for that I'll be forever grateful!
