The joys of having one child of each sex or a ‘pigeon pair’?

[Kiki1703]

I having a girl already and due a boy next….

everyone seems to rave about the pigeon pair combo but I honestly can’t see what the fuss is about?

I am having quite a flat, anxious day. I wondered whether some of you parents of both sexes mind sharing what you love about having one of each?

Thank you 🌈

Because you get to experience a girl and a boy with all the ‘stereotypical’ things? But tbh it doesn’t matter. That new baby’s personality will be exactly what it wants! 🤣

It’s probably quite good for them to understand the other sex and you can model good relationships with them.

Two daughters

Didn't know until born.. but l did wish for a second daughter.. 9 years apart . Best friends.. very close.. now l have 4 Grandsons.. I'm well blessed.

Pigeon pair? Why pigeon? Could be any animal pair surely?!

IME siblings of the same sex can do more "comparing" of each other, especially when close in age. So having a boy/girl combo means you may get less "she's smarter than me / prettier / better at football" etc.

If you were having another girl, people would rave to you about that!

Children are all individuals. Their sex is only a minor part of that.

What is a pigeon pair?

My brother and I are four years apart, he is the older. I absolutely love having my big brother, we are incredibly close and growing up I was so glad I had him and not a sister. We had a bit of a rougher couple of years when I was 13/14 but were still close. I think having him has helped my male relationships tbh, and when I have a problem he can give me a male insight! Ditto for me - his dating life is run by me a fair amount 😂

Two kids, one boy and one girl X

I have an older boy and younger girl, they fit gender stereotypes as ds is v into maths and science, dd loves singing and pink. Despite me trying to give them the same opportunities for each.

They are a good influence on each other as ds teaches dd things he is interested in and dd brings ds out of his shell.

But mostly it is personality not gender. As I'm sure loads of posters will say!

It is a bit of a nuisance having to buy more clothes when ds has loads already bit I can't really put her in boys underpants and she does love the odd sparkly dress. I tend to buy as neutral as possible.

Do you find there is a diff between the sexes or all unique and lovely in their own way?

I’ve never heard it called that before but I have one of each, and I’m very glad. They’re close in age, and initially I was cross that they weren’t same-sex because I thought they’d be better friends if they were. But actually they love and hate each other exactly the same as my sister and I did! I love that they have a warts-and-all representation of the opposite sex growing up with them. And their father and I like having an example of each of us- no-one is ever lonely for sex-based reasons in our house!

It's called a pigeon pair as pigeons tend to lay two egg clutches, and there is an old wives tale that said they were always b/g. Apparently it was originally used to describe twins but the term has been loosened. Apparently it is only a PP if the boy is born first.

If you were having another girl everyone would say 'oh lovely, 2 little girls'. When someone tells you the sex of their baby the only thing to do is you exclaim how delightful it is. And truly a boy and a girl, 2 little girls, 2 little boys are all lovely combinations!

I have a girl and boy 13 months apart, they are complete opposites!
My little boy is scared of anything and extremely emotional, my girl is a force of nature and fearless 🤣
I love that I have both sides with dressing my girl up in cute dresses and she loves make up
And I love how affectionate and gentle my boy is
Currently in the tww and I don't care at all what I have if I am
I think having one of each is amazing personally but I HATE when people say 'ooh one of each, you can stop now!'
Like NO I want 10 of each 🤣🤣💖

I'm glad my son has a sister.

I loved growing up with brothers.

I have g/b and then another boy. What I can tell you is the boys fight physically a lot. Often just play fighting, but not always. Despite sharing boy type interests, they both get on better with their sister. So I can see a pigeon pair being more harmonious than other combinations.

I've got 2 girls and I think it's easy for it all to become a bit girl heavy, especially as primary teachers are often majority female as well. I'd never send them to a girls school for example. It's good to have a mix 😊

Oh I never heard that before thank you!

Yep- this. I have both, there’s much less comparison and competition than others families with 2 of the same sex.
I feel very lucky to have 1 of each! congratulations on your pregnancy 😃

This. Why is everyone so obsessed with the sex of their unborn babies, baffles me. You have no idea how your child will chose to express their gender identity.

That's nice to have one of each @Kiki1703 I have 2 girls - both mid 20s now, and am very happy with having 2 the same sex.

They got on brilliantly as kids and were (for the most part) pretty well behaved. They fought like cat and dog in their mid teens - they are 1.5 years apart in age - for about 2 years, but that is typical teen behaviour, especially with girls! 😬They started becoming mates again at 16-17, and are like soulmates now. They walking distance from each other (20 minutes drive from us,) and it's a wonderful relationship they have.

I really wanted a daughter so much, and baby No. 1 was a girl! When I fell pregnant again, I would not have minded a boy or a girl. I got another girl .. Very happy with 2 girls.

I have a brother. So we are one girl/one boy. We were close as youngsters, though he is a decade younger than me. So once we got to around 15 and 25 we kinda drifted apart a bit. He lives abroad now, (moved 10-11 years ago,) and whilst there was never a breakdown in our relationship, once our folks died (late noughties) we started to lose contact a bit, and really only have contact at Christmas and birthdays now. (Half a dozen times a year we speak on facetime...)

I have seen him, (and my SIL and 2 nephews) 3 times in the past decade. last time 2019. I think it is quite hard to be very close when one of you moves 4000 miles away to another continent!

I don’t know about ‘pigeon pairs’, but I have several children and quite honestly they’d be better described as a committee of vultures.

I could have written this. Except my DD loves underpants way more than knickers 😂

Wanted to bring them up without stereotypical treatment so I bought DS dolls and a dolls house which sat gathering dust until his little sister could first caterpillar crawl her way over there 3 years later. I tried to curb people overwhelming DD with pink (at the start before she started to show her own preferences) and she is a sparkle loving, pink tutu wearing, handbag carrying toddler!

What I love, so far, is that my boy will happily dress up as Elsa and my girl will step right up to the roll of say...Robin Hood or Cat Boy without hesitation. They sometimes have tea parties and sometimes have pretend bow and arrow wars. Perhaps this would happen regardless of gender if they were provided with those options , but it's something I'm enjoying.

I have one of each and I think it enables both of them to escape their socialisation a bit. My daughter assumes she can do everything her brother can, and my son is very affectionate and happy to watch Gabby’s Dollhouse, for example. You do get to see a new type of craziness when strangers congratulate you on having children with different genitals, though.