Thankful for Girls

I was reading this blog post the other day about the clothing options for little girls.  Not that Janelle needs me promoting her blog what with my 33 readers, but damnit she is awesome.  She often writes exactly what I've been thinking.  And more often than not it is put more eloquently than I can ever hope to write.

But, as per usual, I digress.

I was reading the comments on this particular post.  There were a lot I agreed with, and there were quite a few I didn't.  But there were multiple commenters that went out of their way to point out how thankful they were to have boys.

Don't get me wrong.  I'd love to have a son.  I think it would so cool to have a little boy because it can be a totally different experience.  I would love any sons I have as much as my daughters.

Since I've cleared that up, can I just say how ridiculous I found the supposed logic of these commenters?

You're thankful that you have boys because then you don't have to dress your daughter in clothing that you don't like?

Apparently you dodged a pretty major bullet there.  Because we all know that being the parent of a daughter means dressing your kid a certain way.  We all know you'd be beholden to put your kid in DIVA wear or overly sexualize her at an early age, right?  Because apparently having a son is the equivalent of a biological hall pass and having a daughter is detention. 

Either way you're the parent, and you get to make decisions on what your daughter wears when she isn't really old enough to make them herself.  Funny thing is you also get to shape and mold this little human, so she'll (hopefully) respect herself enough to decide to wear appropriate clothing even when she has a choice.

I fear the bad influence of others that don't have my daughters' best interest in mind, but I'd fear those people grabbing hold of my sons too.  I fear them succumbing to peer pressure and doing things they may not agree with simply to impress others.  I also know that my wife and I are the biggest influences in their lives, and I hope that by the time they are faced with these people that are out to ruin or take advantage them that we have taught them their worth.

But I don't fear being their dad, and I don't feel a special burden just because they're girls.  I'm thankful for having girls.  I'm thankful that they exist at all.  And I would never wish they were anyone besides who they are.