Over the past few years, Sheena and Nina have noticed the stark differences in raising boys vs girls. It blows each of their minds every time they share stories of different experiences. Of course it’s different amongst families but here’s a little glimpse into the lives of two sisters raising families of all boys or all girls!
As for Sheena, raising boys has been quite a challenge since we come from a family of all girls. She has always been a girly girl, so having not one, but three boys thrown in front of her, she was in for the ride of her life. She knew there would be a huge learning curve, but as always, she was up for the challenge. Raising these boys has not only been a surprise for her but for the whole Vaid side of the family because we were all only used to girls. Lets dish on some of what she has learned thus far…
From day 1 she realized that there will always be pee everywhere at all times! From infancy to toddlers, they have always had a problem containing that – ugh so gross! She has also found that her boys are so much more rambunctious – they are always moving and just don’t stop, no matter how much “quiet time” she tries to push on them. Her boys need to be jumping and climbing most of their days, while she notices that Nina’s girls will be just as happy coloring and reading! Shopping for clothes is 100 times easier for boys than girls! Their closet mostly consists of pants, shirts and sneakers and the best part is that they can all be interchanged, so it makes mom’s life so much easier. Emotionally, Sheena has noticed that the boys are less complicated. To them, expressing their emotion is either laughing hysterically or balling their eyes out – whereas the girls love a little coddle (which Sheena gladly dives into because she doesn’t get that from her boys). The boys idea of playing with toys is making an insane mess and taking everything out of the drawers rather than picking one or two toys to play with and putting those back before grabbing others. Cars/trucks, superheros and legos take over Sheena’s house – they are in every room and every corner. Last, but definitely not least, boys will always make trips to the ER. Being the dare devils they are, there is no room for being safe in their lives. They will forever have cuts and bruises all over their bodies and are sure to make way more ER visits than those precious princesses (though the girls act like they need to go to the ER when they get a little cut!). With all that being said, Sheena wouldn’t trade it in for anything else in this world. The joys and grey hairs that come from raising boys is the best love/hate feeling!
In her house, she will see the girls play “quietly” for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, after which WW3 breaks out with pinching, hitting, hair pulling, pushing, sitting on the others faces, etcetera. She lets the girls duke it out the best they can until one will come sobbing to tell on the other. To be honest, the three of us were exactly like this, so she does not get too upset every time this happens, which sometimes is multiple times a day! And as crazy as they get with each other, they are that sweet and gentle with their dog Nylo – and constantly want him to be their doll for dress up or patient for playing doctor. There is a lottttt of emotion in their house – they say the darndest things from “you are my best” to “I am never going to be your friend”, a constant emotional rollercoaster over there! And they are obsessed with their daddy.. to say the least – but Nina secretly loves that – because she herself was Daddy’s little girl. Aside from all the “drama”, she has noticed that the girls love being mommy’s little helpers. Naya loves emptying out the dishwasher and Niva loves helping fold the laundry (we are still working on perfection there :)). Their closets are a whole new world for Nina. She herself would be a-okay wearing jeans and a T-shirt everyday, but not her girls – they take after their masis! They have skirts, pants, capris, all sorts of tops, dresses, and then add on accessories and SHOES! Oh lord help her! She pulls through when needed, but her constant leggings under skirts and dresses has to stop in her masis’ opinion! The girls love having their “va-va” (jewelry, handbags, etc) and Mommy Vaid cannot get enough of it! Even though this is a whole new world for Nina, she loves giving them the attention they crave and feels blessed to have Mommy Vaid guiding her on how to raise good girls ;).
