A few weeks ago, we learned that a baby boy(!) will be joining the adorable toddler boy we already have. Which means that I will be the lone female in this household (at least for a while) and that even if we have another child, and it turns out to be a girl, I will forever be outnumbered.
Getting used to this idea has taken some time.
I always assumed that I would have a daughter. After all, I'm a daughter myself, so it's familiar territory. It's definitely not because I want to have a little girl to play dress up with (I hate when people say that by the way. I mean, little girls aren't Barbie dolls, but I digress..) because to be honest, having to worry about matching tights and shoes and color coordinating outfits gives me a headache sometimes. And that's just getting myself dressed - I couldn't imagine having to go through that with a child.
The thing is, my world has mostly been a woman's world - and I've liked it. I can't help it if I imagined myself sharing it with a daughter. I like going out with "the girls." I like "girly" things (I can spend hours at stationery shops - it's scary how happy pretty paper can make me.) Even at business school, where we only made up 30% of the class, the ladies were mostly in charge. I've always worked in companies where women outnumber men - and in industries where it was all about the woman's purchasing power - because we make most of the economic decisions anyways. So for me, it has been all about being a woman.
But not anymore.
When we found out that our family would be a boy family, my OB-GYN (a woman, of course) put her hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eyes and said "as a mother of three boys, I have to warn you: Your bathrooms will never be the same." And with a wink and a smile, I was initiated into a new sisterhood, one that I never really knew existed - I became a Mom Of Boys. And you know what? I think I will like it. I get to be the sole female in the house, and thus expect to be spoiled accordingly. I can see it now - I'll start wearing pink and carrying a fluffy white dog to counterbalance the testosterone levels at home. And spa days with the girls will probably be the standard Mother's Day present for a while. I'll get to be a girly-girl, not only guilt-free but also for diversity's sakes. It is my duty! Of course, it also means that I have to be a role model and will represent All Of Womanhood to my boys for many, many years - that's a little scary (specially if I do indulge in all the girly things I'm imagining right now), but I don't have to worry about that for a while. (How very Scarlett O'Hara of me! I'm even turning into a Southern Belle.)
It also means that I get to be the Mother-In-Law. Twice. I don't know if that makes me want to laugh maniacally or cry.
