Often times, parents blessed with children of both genders will remark "Raising boys is so much more simple than raising girls." And at the risk of sounding sexist or deprecating, I'll concur (I get to - I'm a parent to two girls and two boys!)
Boys are capable of being sensitive and having emotions, it's just that they don't seem to analyze events, body language and the like for deeper meaning. Subtle cues or subtext is often lost on them. While that means they may get hurt less often, it also means they may hurt others looking for stronger reactions from them.
Conversely, girls often analyze the nuance of every relationship or interaction. From facial expressions to body language, tone of voice and word choice. Girls look for the connections between all those things and ask themselves "What does that mean?" Additionally, while boys are often thinking of today - maybe tomorrow, girls are planning things in advance. Next weeks' party, next semester's classes, where to go to school could all be weighing on your daughter's mind now, in 9th grade. That's a lot of pressure.
So when other kids inadvertently place more pressure on your child to "belong," as a parent you'd better be paying attention. Last year the issue was when my daughters could start wearing makeup. This year the issue is tongue rings. Can you believe it? Tongue rings! Her ears aren't even pierced (and nor does she want them pierced because she's afraid of the pain) and she's hinting around about what it would be like to have tongue rings.
Her friends may see them as mere fashion accessories, but my husband and I believe that tongue rings could send an entirely different message, one of a flamboyant and risk-taking girl. That's not really our daughter, so we're going to have to deliver some tough love for now.
Julie enjoys sharing health and beauty tips. A great resource for flat irons, curling irons and hair styling tools of all kinds is My Hair Styling Tools.
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