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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be sick of hearing how wonderful it it to have baby Harper after 3 boys

144 replies

oliandjoesmum · 28/09/2011 13:39

Beckham at it again today. Know am being petty, and sure will be told I shouldn't care, but as a Mum of 3 boys do hate this constant insistence in the Western World that girls rule and boys are devils spawn. It makes me feel sorry for the Beckham boys, like they have been sidelined. Feeling a bit personal about this one at the moment, sister having girl to provide my Mum with first granddaughter after 4 grandsons. Really quite fed up with conversations about how amazing it will be compared to having noisy/ never sit still/ crap clothes wearing/non ballet dancing/ non horse riding/ dirty/ raucous boys(mothers words - not mine!)

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DooinMeCleanin · 28/09/2011 14:41

'having noisy/ never sit still/ crap clothes wearing/non ballet dancing/ non horse riding/ dirty/ raucous' this describes dd2 down to a tee Grin

YANBU however in my family after many. mnay baby girls everyone was desperate for a boy. My sister provided three in the end, all much more quiet and dainty than my two girls Grin

4madboys · 28/09/2011 14:43

what chocolatchad said!

i have 9mth old dd after four boys and yes i am loving having a little girl to buy cute girly clothes for...my dp hates my love of all things boden Blush

but ultimately she is just a baby and tbh is not different from her brothers at the same age, she looks pretty similar to them as well!

but omg the comments i get on how we must be so pleased to finally have a girl, yada yada yada, umm no not really, we went into preg no 5 TOTALLY expecting a 5th boy.

so i think its more a case of everyone else making a big deal of it than the beckhams themselves.

Shutupanddrive · 28/09/2011 14:47

Non horse riding? Plenty of boys go riding!
I've got two boys by the way

MIFLAW · 28/09/2011 14:50

" Check out the pregnancy boad if you want to see how unhappy people are when they get flamed for stating their legitimate feelings." As a man, I don't have much to say on pregnancy boards. also, I wouldn't want to add to those people's distress by telling them I think they're silly.

But, that said, I would say there is a further difference between wanting a boy or girl and then letting the fact that the child is a boy or girl determine what you can and can't do together. Your husband is from a West Indian family: fair enough. But he is not obliged to act out the same preferences and attitudes present in his own upbringing.

In the case of my own daughter, she does ballet at school and likes pink. That is because she is a girl, surrounded by other girls, watching girl-focussed messages on TV and hearing them in society. I think it's great she likes ballet and okay (not great, okay) that she likes pink.

But, as a responsible father, I'm not going to reinforce messages that that's what being a girl is all about; I'm going to contradict them and offer her an alternative viewpoint because that's my role as a parent. If she comes home and says, "oh, I don't play with X, he's a boy" I tell her she's being bloody silly (in the nicest possible way, of course!) And when she says, "can we play football?" (actually, throwing a football across the living room) then what can I reasonably answer except "yes, of course we can"?

oliandjoesmum · 28/09/2011 14:55

Sorry about the horse riding comment, also know loads of boys that go riding, won't let my middle one as seems like a slippery slope to sepnding very much money! I guess I am demonstrating that the stereotypes around what girls do, and boys don't

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chocolatchaud · 28/09/2011 14:57

4madboys - I agree re the clothes, and why do Boden have to put them in such obvious bags? I'm sure I could get a few plain grey ones past DH!

oliandjoesmum - it does drive you crazy, and it's really hard to give an answer without appearing as if you are really upset about having another boy. After DS3 an aquaintance said 'oh well, at least he's healthy' Angry

Insomnia11 · 28/09/2011 14:57

Personally I always felt I wanted a daughter at some point (and I got two as it happened).

I'm sure if I'd had one or two sons I'd love them just as much, but I'd probably be wanting to try again for a girl, so I can understand how the Beckhams feel.

Though I feel very very content with two girls (we both are) and don't want to try for a boy. I guess this means I favour girls over boys slightly. Just being honest.

AKMD · 28/09/2011 14:58

In that case, you are a perfectly reasonable human being MIFLAW and I agree with everything you said in your last post. There, friends?

DH is slowly learning that it is ok for DS to like playing with dolls, although FIL maintains that they will 'make DS gay' Hmm which is not a viewpoint that I agree with or find acceptable and have said so. He is also into diggers and ball games, which would be fine for a DD too. What I would absolutely disagree with is buying DS pink toys (that he hasn't asked for or shown any interest in) simply to make a point about how 'liberal' I am, or dressing DDs in clothes designed for boys and giving them bowlcuts for the same reason. There is a certain group of people who feel that anything pink, glittery or pretty is enslaving a girl into a so-called valueless life of home and children, and go out of their way to stop them from doing anything perceived as 'girly'. IMO that is wrong.

aldiwhore · 28/09/2011 15:00

I must be living in a void as I've heard nothing about the Beckhams... I don't tend to unless I buy the shoite mags that obviously keeping 'harping' on about them!

On the subject of boys/girls though, yes I've been asked if I'd like a girl, no I have no desire for another child of any flavour. No, two boys are not the 'same' they're very very different.

I've never had a strong desire for a particular gender, and although the dynamic is different in our house compared to my friend's 'two girl' house, and different again from another friend's 'one of each' house, I am not craving a girl. Or another boy. I'd like another cat though.

WishIwereAtTheWiesnProst · 28/09/2011 15:02

Well to be fair, I think not being forced to buy shirt with tractors or camo on them (because that's the only thing anyone sells why god why?) a girl might be a relief.

lockets · 28/09/2011 15:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MIFLAW · 28/09/2011 15:15

Friends? with a girl? Eurgh.

"What I would absolutely disagree with is buying DS pink toys (that he hasn't asked for or shown any interest in) simply to make a point about how 'liberal' I am, or dressing DDs in clothes designed for boys and giving them bowlcuts for the same reason. There is a certain group of people who feel that anything pink, glittery or pretty is enslaving a girl into a so-called valueless life of home and children, and go out of their way to stop them from doing anything perceived as 'girly'. IMO that is wrong."

I agree with you. What I WOULD, and do, do, though, is actively try to avoid buying my daughters pink stuff that doesn't need to be pink - e.g. I would rather leave a shop empty handed than buy my eldest a pink bike because I know that other colours are available. I'm not so much about stopping my daughters doing girly things as trying to stop them from seeing such things as girly.

One place where I am v traditional, incidentally, is haircuts. Don't like long hair on boys, don't like excessively short hair on girls (bowl cuts are a red herring as they look horrible on everyone.)

oliandjoesmum · 28/09/2011 15:18

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with preferring girls, and being glad you got them. What I find a bit weird is that when someone has a girl after a number of boys there is almost a view that the boys were a mere side effect of getting to the ultimate goal of a daughter. I am sure in the Beckhams case that is a media driven view, and that they do not feel like that at all. It is the media going on and on about it that is irritating

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MIFLAW · 28/09/2011 15:18

One thing that annoys me a LOT is that my daughter (she is 3) is a big dinosaur fan. Like lots of 3-year-olds of both sexes, in fact.

Can I, anywhere, find clothes, shoes or accessories with a dinosaur theme that do not also scream "this was designed for BOYS, put your daughter into it and ostracise her forever!"

No, I cannot.

oliandjoesmum · 28/09/2011 15:23

My youngest has a Hatley raincoat with dinosaurs on. Is green and definitely appropriate for a girl or boy

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MIFLAW · 28/09/2011 15:24

Where can you buy them?

MorrisZapp · 28/09/2011 15:27

YABU

The Beckhams have never said or done anything to suggest that they think boys are the devils spawn.

On the contrary, much as I am 'meh' about the whole celeb thing, I think David beckham comes across as a wonderful, loving father of boys. He kisses them and calls them darling and gorgeous in public.

Nobody thinks boys are worse than girls - they're just really interested in the 'three of one, then one of the other' angle.

4madboys · 28/09/2011 15:29

miflaw we have a local independent kids shop that sells them, but they are online as well.

chocolatechad, i make sure to order stuff so it arrives when dp is at work an then dispose of the wrapping before he gets home Grin

highlandcoo · 28/09/2011 15:29

I remember my MIL taking me to task after we announced I was expecting dc3 : "You've got one of each, what do you want another for?" Lovely response to the news that you're going to have another grandchild (she does completely love him now)

AKMD · 28/09/2011 15:29

Ah MIFLAW, best friends forever Wink

OP, I do agree that sometimes the boys are seen as a side-effect of having a girl and vice-versa, which is pretty sad. You do see articles in newspapers like the Daily Fail though where a mum has insisted on keping going until she gets a girl/boy, which is very odd and must make the older children feel a bit like spare parts.

Whatmeworry · 28/09/2011 15:30

Can we talk about crap baby names? :o

woopsidaisy · 28/09/2011 15:31

My MIL recently informed me that my SIL says " everybody secretly wants girls."
I have two boys,she has two girls.
I have never given a hoot what I had,as long as they were healthy.
Angry

RhinoKey · 28/09/2011 15:31

I have 2 DS's then DD. Once I had DD everyone told me I could stop now I had a girl. No-one could get their head around the fact we wanted three children, not that we just wanted a girl.

AKMD · 28/09/2011 15:32

Fhairee-Pwinsess is a good one.

oliandjoesmum · 28/09/2011 15:34

think you can get Hatley online, 2 shops sell them where I live. They do wellies too, sure I am not mad in thinking would look just as nice on a girl.
AKMD - exactly what I meant, the spare part thing

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