Stereotypes

Sugar and Spice vs. Snips and Snails 

As a new parent, I remember hoping that my son would be a little different. He would not only loves sports, but could also appreciate a good musical. He would climb every tree but could play the piano or paint a masterpiece. After two boys and a reality check later we had a girl!  I remember thinking, I hope she's not too girly and she still loves sports. I wanted her to be a little tough to stick up for herself, but still be sweet and sensitive. I learned very quickly that no matter what I had hoped for, they each had their own plan.
Yesterday we played a game at lunch asking the question, What is one unique quality about each of you we could put in a yearbook. Example: "The person is most likely to".... Here were the group nominations said about each other.

• Nate is "Most likely to clean up a room better than any cleaning guy could."
• Jack is "Most likely to build the best military fortress inside a house."
• Brooke is "Most likely to not eat an entire meal." 

Nate not only loves sports, he's good at them. He is a super cleaner and a type A personality. He's organized, would keep his room in perfect shape if it weren't for his Type B brother. He's turning into more of a boy everyday, ie sweaty and makes disgusting noises that only Jack thinks are funny. He is talented in art and math, and has some pretty good hip hop dance moves. He likes to run 5K races, and is better than me. He likes to think he's in control of his siblings, and is the happiest when he's on vacation with our family. 

Jack on the other hand is the exact opposite of organized, although he's extremely creative, and could be considered a master builder....and destroyer. He's terrific at sports, but couldn't care less if we got rid of dressers or hampers. Neither of which he uses. He was born with a silver shovel in his hand, and would dig to China if we let him. He thinks anything Nate does is hilarious, and has the loudest belly laugh. He's ultra sensitive and will tear up when he watches a sad movie. He would never change his clothes or his underwear unless somebody told him to, but he sure does clean up well! He is the happiest when you tell him it's Saturday and he has NOTHING to do! 

Brooke's favorite color is pink. She picked that on her own, along with every other piece of clothing she wears. She's opinionated, but really funny. She starts her day with a smile, and ends it with wet pants. We may need to revise her statement to be, "Most likely to still need potty training in 7th grade." If she sees a princess dress, she'll make a beeline to the clothing rack, and loves anything tacky. She gives the greatest hugs and definitely speaks her mind. She LOVES her brothers and calls them, "My boys". She could live on brown rice with soy sauce, strawberry fruit squeezes and a side of orange juice. Her big brown eyes make us all melt and none of the boys can say NO to her. Mommy has to be the bad "guy". She uses dominoes or anything small and rectangular to pretend it's a cell phone. She calls her "friends" and talks quietly for at least 20 minutes. She is the happiest when she's in a sand box, or when we are reading 10+ books together. 

Even though I had my own expectations of what I wanted my children to be, they have far surpassed anything I could have imagined. They are each so unique that it would have been hard to place them in a generic category. I think the poem should read, "What are children made of? Sugar and spice, everything nice AND snips and snails and puppy dog tails. My guess is that most children have a nice combination all all over the above.