Gender

SO- Have ya read the articles about the Parents in Canada who are keeping their baby's gender a secret? I know this probably shouldn't bother me as much as it does, but it has REALLY been bothering me today! I can NOT shake these thoughts and concerns out of my head! {So I figure I'll vent about them here on my "blounal" :) -how do you like that word I made up?}

These parents in Canada are not sharing the gender of their child because they want the baby to be able to express himself freely. They also feel that parents these days do too much micromanaging and "hovering" over our children, and that children need to be able to make decisions for themselves. (Did I mention that this baby is only 4 months old?) In the article it also talks about the two older brothers. They are allowed to wear whatever they want, keep their hair however they like, and even have whichever earing in whichever ear they like. As a result the oldest boy likes to wear dresses, paint his toes pink, has 2 braids down his back, and wears one pink ear ring. Ok- I'm all for letting my kids wear whatever color of clothing they want, but when does this stop? Hello- if your little boy shows up to kindergarten wearing a dress, he's gonna get picked on. That's just the way the world works, and I believe it's called culture! Just because the rest of us are normal {and by normal I mean in tune with our culture} why are we expected to embrace this?

The only people who know the gender are the two older brothers, the parents, and two midwives. {What a secret for those 2 little boys to keep!!!} Even if they act like it's no big deal now, just wait a few years when people start asking and harassing them about it! {Have ya ever kept a secret for someone before, and at some point, you had to take a lot of crap to keep that secret, but you kept it anyways because you were expected to? Sure you can appear to shrug off almost anything, but what's really going on inside?} Some day these boys will need some serious therapy!

And the baby! {Did I mention he's only 4 months old?!?!} What the hell has the world come to?!? Now we're letting infants make decisions for themselves are we? This poor kid is going to have the time of his life "deciding" what gender he wants to be {I can't even decide what to make for dinner!!!! I can't even imagine making a choice THIS phenomenal!} Are we not supposed to first TEACH our kids, then let them make decisions based on what they've been taught? And what happens if this kid grows up and decides he hates being different. He just wanted to be "normal" all along. {Boy- that would be the biggest (undoable) mistake you could make as a parent!} I don't think this is fair to the child. I can't imagine putting such a huge responsibility in the hands of my 1 year old {let alone my 3 month old!} When Addison goes to kindergarten she will have her own set of battles to fight. Why would I ever throw her choice of gender on top of that? Can you imagine this kid's first day of school? The boys will beat him up, and the girls won't play with him. Can you imagine his first basketball game {or volleyball game if he chooses to be a girl}. Imagine the locker room scene that will be when he whips out a different set of parts than all the girls. {Gee- glad we let him choose that awkward situation}!

You know I probably wouldn't be so steamed about this whole thing if I wasn't scared to death of how it will affect the rest of the world, a world that my kids are just barely starting out in. A world that is destined to get MUCH worse before it gets better. I thought I had it rough in the dating scene. When Addison goes on her first date she won't have to ask questions like "where ya from, what do you like to do?" Her first question will be, "so you say you're a boy, I just want to be sure you genitalia match before this goes any further." It makes me worried sick to even think about the way MY kids will have to adapt to these "genderless" people. {And you'd better believe that my kids will be expected to accept and embrace it, the way I have been expected to openly accept gays}.

I just don't understand people. Life is fairly simple. You're born (either a boy or a girl {duh}), you grow up, get married, have children, live and die. Along the way life hands us a complete set of problems. Aren't these problems enough to be concerned about? Why do people have to complicate the simple things? And why do parents feel that kids need more responsiblity, more choices, more complicated problems? Let your kids be kids! I hope that the only worries my little kidos will have is how much longer they get to play outside, or when I'll make them take a nap. I would never wish for my kids' lives to be more complicated or difficult than they will already be.

SO-

Sorry about the little rant, but this is my "blournal", and these are my thoughts & opinions. I just hope I'm not the only one who feels this way!