Having said that I grew up in the South in a conservative household. I have two older brothers and one older sister. If you are keeping score at home that means I have a sister and that I am the youngest of four children.
While we certainly grew up as a family (wonderful and loving in the extreme) we were not treated the same. My sister (AuPa to Robbie) was kept with a much closer watch than myself. I would dare say that some of that was due to gender and some of it was due to the fact that my parents were a little tired after 4 kids and that while I was certainly "rambunctious" I never was destructive - never mind the hairspray-torched carpet at my Grandmother's house.
Which brings us to our children. How are we going to raise them? And are we going to treat them differently?
Of course we are.
Boys are in some ways like cats. You can let them out by themselves to some extent and when they screw up, and they will, they limp back home.
This does not mean that you do not have firm limits and that you always, always hold them accountable for their actions. It is my firm belief that boys and young men have the best chance to excel under strong and to large extent uncompromising parental leadership.
Ok Captain Von Trapp what about girls?
Raising a girl scares me to death.
There is so much that a father wants to protect is daughter from while at the same time so much that a father wants his daughter to experience. This is with the frustrating realization that there are limits to what can be done to "protect" her. I am certain that I will be repeating the words of my parents when I tell her that "you have been raised to know the difference between right and wrong we have confidence that you will act accordingly."
Oh and by the way be home by 10!
Having said all of that I have absolute faith that we will, with God's help, do a good job in raising the two amazing children He has blessed us with. The "bumps" along the way will certainly keep us on our toes.
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