Differences

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew my little growing baby was a girl, call it a mothers intuition. I didn't have a preference on gender, a son would have been the perfect fit as well. But when I heard the ultrasound tech say those defining words "its a girl", my whole world made sense. Like most mothers, I pictured my "mini me". A perfect little friend with the worlds most beautiful hair and softest voice. A daughter with delicate features and ladylike mannerisms. I thought about the mother daughter bond we would have, and introducing her to all the fun girly things in life, showing her how to hold a babydoll, reading American Girl books, having fancy tea parties. Teaching her how to, tastefully, apply makeup or talking about what boys are worth her time. I thought about our time choosing her wedding dress.

While pregnant, I gathered information on specific topics to educate myself to build my own strong decisions that would best fit our family. In doing so, I gained knowledge on attachment parenting, permissive parenting, instinctive parenting (what we lean the most towards, while being highly attached ;) I always keep an open mind about different parenting approaches as well.
It is said that the rules on parenting shift from generation to generation. There will always be a new "trend" with parenthood. One specific trend that has surfaced quite rapidly is raising your child gender neutral (popular among progressive parenting). This involves raising a child with out "gender limitations" and giving a child the right to choose what he or she wants to be (I encourage anyone to look deeper into this style of parenting, its quite interesting).
Although this is an extreme style, I noticed that the words "gender neutral" have become very popular with everyday/ordinary parents as well. To be bold, I am fed up with hearing these words. Personally, I believe we should celebrate the diversities between male and female! Yes, a woman can weld metal, she can cut down a tree, butcher a cow. A man is still a man if he chooses to be a stay at home dad, become a florist, barista or secretary. Talking freely about the differences between men and women can be complicated but I believe there are certain traits we were born with that the other gender can posses but not translate as well. I respect the sensitivity a woman has, the gentle, natural, maternal instinct that she discovers is completely opposite of a man who establishes the dominate protective role once a child is born into the family. We should embrace these characteristics that define who we are.

I am excited to embrace my daughters femininity, to complement her beautiful intellect and appearance. To teach her every beautiful diversity that exists, whoever she chooses to be.