Live Experiment

As soon as I learned that I was having boy/girl twins, I started thinking about gender differences. As a psych major I had learned about nature vs nurture, gender patterns, child development - so I was so curious to see it in my own house. Some women play dress-up with their babies, I looked forward to my very own psychological studies on child development and gender.

But, then they were born. When other people asked me about gender differences, I realized that I didn't think about it as much as I thought I would. And, there weren't so many differences after all.

This Christmas Mike and I did put some serious thought into whether or not Drew should get a new doll, as we planned on getting one for Ella. He does play with dolls sometimes, but not with the same frequency or interest as Ella. Ultimately, we decided that he had other toys and maybe we should focus his energy on those.

The 2 grandmothers obviously disagreed with our decision and both purchased new boy dolls for Drew. Thank goodness.

The lesson from this experiment is that I don't want to be a psychologist studying my kids, or a parent that limits my kids' experiences because of my own hang-ups. All Drew knows is that it is fun to brush his buddy's hair and change his clothes. Sometimes he sets him up on the couch for a sword fight, sometimes he just sits next to him to watch a movie. If Drew didn't have a new buddy, I wouldn't be witness to his adorable nurturing characteristics - just his aggressive sword fighting skills!