Just a Typical Sunday Afternoon

After all the crazy running around we did over Spring Break and Easter, it has been nice just to get back into the normal swing of things. Today was a typical Sunday -- we got up and went to church, grabbed lunch afterwards, Sydney took a nap, Jeremy's friend Fred came over and it was time to wash the cars. Since the weather has warmed up a bit, I thought Sydney would enjoy washing cars with her daddy and Fred (normally the guys go out to wash the cars and leave us womenfolk in the house to do womanish things).



In any case, Sydney had a great time. Originally we had put her little car (well, actually it's a fire truck) in the garage since the drive way is so steep, but she insisted on the car being in the driveway. Luckily, Jeremy had just bought these ramps in order to put a new suspension on his car (either you know why he needs a new suspension, or you just shouldn't ask). So, we used them as a blockade for Sydney's vehicle.



I think I'll take this moment to express how much I love having a daughter. I love that she can pretend to clean house and pretend to wash her car and no one bats an eye. I love that she can be strong and be feminine. I think it's so much harder for boys. I see so many mothers of sons trying to give their sons the same open plate that we try to give our daughter, tearing down gender roles and letting sons play with dolls and daughters play with dump trucks, but the voices of the paranoid, homophobic masses seem to seep in and start to work a number on those visionary mothers, making them wonder about encouraging their sons in the arts and domestic pursuits. I hate that it's harder for boys, but I take hope in that I think it is getting easier. After all, fifty years ago, I would have been dealing with those masses telling me I was doing something wrong to my daughter, trying to make her "be a boy." There are true, hardwired differences between Sydney and her male counterparts. But with those differences already there, shouldn't we be working even harder to minimize the external pressures?