The Gender Divide

For all you folks out there planning on having more than one child, let me give you a piece of advice: Have two children of the same gender. Really, it'll save you so much stress and eye strain, because children of two different genders means your reading list is twice as long. Here is a small sampling of all the books I feel compelled to read, never mind the general parenting books, sibling rivalry books, feeding books, etc. that have nothing to do with gender (one recent fascinating read that I reviewed for work that is genderless: The Overachievers : The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins--you can read my review of it on that page--it's the Publishers Weekly review):

Boys
Raising Cain : Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson
Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood by William Pollack and Mary Pipher
The Minds of Boys : Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Life by Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens

Girls
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman
Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons

Last night I went to a screening at our library of the documentary of Raising Cain, which was interesting but confusing in its message of how we should be treating our boys to help them grow into self-actualized men.

And then there are the girls. I feel strongly that I don't write about my work, but right now I'm reading a book for review that I think is a must-read for all parents of little girls: Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes by Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown. I'd like to comment on it here, but I feel compelled to wait until the book is released and my review is out.

I think when I was a baby, my mom had on book at her disposal: Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care. Later one, she added Parent Effectiveness Training: The Proven Program for Raising Responsible Children to her repertoire of parenting books, which now, if you've been paying attention, included two books. I have two shelves already devoted to the cause. And we haven't even hit the preschool years.

I know plenty of children not only survived but thrived with parents who didn't crack a book. But as an older, attachment parenting, over-educated, part-time stay-at-home mother, I feel compelled to devour anything that could even remotely improve my children's well being, even though everything I read is not only conflicting but often downright wrong.

That said, I must stop blogging for the moment. A book in the living room is calling my name.