Thursday, December 9, 2010

Heartbreakers


Just a quickie for you darlings this afternoon, I'm afraid. I've been more than a little busy with this life thing. But I'm just bursting to share something, and I know that you are a sympathetic ear.

This morning, I read a blog post from a friend who has three girls. She entitled it Fathers, Daughters and Boys, and began with the words:

Our girls are precious cargo, treasures, like fragile crystal.

HANDLE WITH CARE.

My husband is protective, cautious, wise and strong, and he will go out of his way to make sure our daughters are treated like beautiful creations of God. My husband used to joke with the girls about the day they brought home a boy. “I will be cleaning my guns.” He would say, and they believed him.

For some reason, this Facebook page title popped into my head:

If you hurt my son I will make your death look like an accident.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up what's in my heart. Boys are quite possibly even more fragile. And girls can be unbelievably brutal.

I think that many parents of just girls think that boys are the enemies.
And that many parents of just boys think that girls are the enemies.

But many parents of at least one boy and one girl realize that all other children, regardless of gender have the potential to hurt their kids equally.

Right now, with only my teen son out in society, I tend to think of girls as cruel, capricious and generally all the spawn of Satan.

Some day, when my little girl enters the wild world of dating, I will undoubtedly hate and fear boys as well.

I'm glad I have a boy and a girl because I see their strengths and weaknesses, and cherish both. And I hereby send a fervent request out to the divinity that shapes our ends that no one hurts either one of them.

We are all God's creatures.

11 comments:

Bill Lisleman said...

I enjoyed the balance reporting here. Only fools would think it's just one sided. Of course there are many fools.

lisahgolden said...

It's something that I keep pushing at my kids - the golden rule.

We're all capable of receiving and giving pain. Let's all work to minimize pain wherever we can.

Mrs. Chili said...

Take it from a mother of a teenage daughter; girls SUCK. When they're not sweet and compliant (because they want something), they are heartless, brutal, raging beasts. Sometimes, my teenager scares me; she knows how to say things that hurt, and to say them in a way that makes them even more pointy.

I have made a point in my motherhood of NOT wishing time away; I've tried to be ever present in my children's lives. I'm here to tell you I can't WAIT to move out of this phase. CAN'T. WAIT.

Ugh

Fantastic Forrest said...

lisleman, Lisa and Mrs. Chili - thank you, my people. XOXO

stephanie said...

I'm pretty sure that my daughter is the one who will prove to be the most resilient of my children, though Stu still plans to be cleaning his guns when boys come over.

As a teacher of teens, I have made it clear to you all that there are angels & demons where you least expect them - so always expect the unexpected.

But do remember - we don't know true joy without a little pain...

oxo

kyooty said...

I am a girl, and I have a house full of boys, and still I know that girls lie. They really do socialize differently then boys. Boys give you their hearts, and trust. I find that girls are always up to something. My husband has always said to me "hints don't work, TELL it like it is!"

shrink on the couch said...

Mom of boy and girls here. Came from family of two girls, two boys.
Boys and girls are all equally vulnerable, equally capable of hurting one another, equally subject to feeling shattered by the cruelty of either sex. It really gets old, hearing the "boys vs. girls" parenting claims. So 1950's.

Fantastic Forrest said...

Stephanie - thanks for that reminder. As long as it's just a little, I suppose I'm okay with it. :-)

kyooty - true dat.

yogurt - yes, yes, YES.

Stu said...

Holly,

You are welcome to borrow any of my firearms. They will be very clean already, but the kids won't know that.

My short, all black, tactical shotgun with the flashlight is especially intimidating...

If nothing else, it will give you some bad-ass points in the hood ;)

-Stu

PS: They call them crushes for a reason. Nobody gets out uninjured...

Fantastic Forrest said...

Stu - I've not forgotten your offer to take me out to the shooting range. It's important that there be no innocent bystanders. And I LURVE your PS. Brilliant.

Bee said...

Although I agree, in principle, with your well-balanced view, I tend to side more with Mrs. Chili.