Parenting By Gender Series – Are Girls Easier Than Boys?

What’s Your opinion on this age long debate? Are Girls Really easier than boys? You can take the poll at the end of this post.

Whether we like to believe it or not, there are certain stereotypes associated with parenting boys and girls. And more often than not, most parents find themselves seeing those stereotypes manifesting in their children. We agree that not every child will follow the norm, but there are certain similarities that make it easier for us to bunch our kids up according to the general ‘Boy Vs Girl’ thing.

The general idea seems to be that it’s easier to handle boys than girls in the earlier years and as they mature into the teenage years, there’s a switch and then it becomes more challenging handling the ‘drama’ that is usually associated with girls. Worthy of note are some of the differences that will prepare you for effective parenting of your awesome treasure, of course putting into consideration the fact that there will always be exceptions to the rule and that each child is an individual with their own distinctive personality.

• Appetite. By virtue of the fact that boys usually are bigger than girls at birth, they tend to be more demanding when it comes to food and generally have a healthier appetite than girls, and this is even more pronounced as they grow into their teenage years.
• Toy preferences and Choice of Play. Boys tend to be more attracted to toys such as cars, trucks, guns, while girls are more inclined towards soft toys and dolls. Boys are usually more rambunctious and willing to explore more dangerous games than girls.

• Communication. Girls are usually better listeners and they usually have better developed abilities to express themselves verbally than boys, and even in the manner of expression too.
• Helpfulness and Nurturing. Girls, maybe to prepare them for future ‘Mom Skills’, usually have the tendency to be more helpful and usually want to ‘mother’ others around them. Of course we know that both boys and girls should be caring, but girls are more naturally inclined to be the caring and nurturing ones.

So, these are just general differences, each child will, more often than not, be shaped not just by nature, but also by nurturing, and environmental influences. Knowing how to handle boys different from girls will make your parenting easier, but we shouldn’t be so caught up in this that we forget to groom our kids (girls and boys alike) to be responsible, caring and loving children, having respect for others as well as themselves.

Oluseye Ashiru