Monday, February 21, 2011

I can scream like a girl cause I am one

I'm out numbered by gender in my house.
No big deal really, until, well, it is.
I take my role as the lone female voice in a house full of guys seriously. Maybe all of my boys wish it less so, but I think it is up to me to explain a few things before they reach adolescence and I become the dumbest person on the planet.
Lesson one : Don't say "crying like a girl" unless you are one.
The teaching moment came while we were in the car during a freak lightening storm.
The youngest starts to shriek. He's scared and I tell him he'll be OK. So does his Dad.
But dad, takes it one step further, and adds the oft innocent and old-school disclaimer... "You're screaming like a girl" to the older brother who was mimicking the little one.
This is the part where someone might dub in the sound effect of tires screeching to a halt or a voice over saying: "OH-NO-HE-DIDN'T!"
What did you just say?
I despise the phrase "crying like a girl" for two reasons.
"Crying like a girl "connotes that girls are weak when they are not.
"Crying like a girl" tells boys that there is something less worthy about being a girl than a boy.
Before you say I am taking this too far riddle me this: What else is that phrase supposed to mean?
So if my boys are crying, I tell them to own it.
Boys will cry like boys in my house. There's no shame.

Mom will handle the crying like a girl part, thank you very much.