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Parents have asked the question for generations: Which is easier to rear, a boy or a girl? One parenting resource says that all depends.
Most parents consider all their children to be wonderful, each with his or her own challenges and talents. That's a given. But, honestly, is one harder than the other?
One man I spoke with had a child of each gender. He said, "Right now, it's a tie. I suspect when they get older, it may change, but right now they're both young, and they're both…"
I interrupted, "Perfect little angels?"
He answered, "Perfect with a small ‘P.'"
We won't use his name so his comments about his children don't come back to haunt him.
A Salt Lake City teacher had this to say: "Boys are easier to raise than girls. But when it comes to being a school teacher, the boys are the ones getting into trouble."
So, even though boys get in trouble more often, they're easier than girls? I'm confused. But she was right about boys being in trouble more often.
University of Utah Child and Family Development Center director Heidi Baker said, "If you look at those kids that have problems in school, early on in elementary school or in preschool and so forth, it's usually boys because they have all of this higher activity level."
Recently, Parenting.com broke down what's harder about raising boys, compared to girls. It says boys have more problems with school, discipline and physical safety. Girls have more self-esteem problems.
Both Parenting.com and Baker say girls are initially easier to communicate with, but that changes when the girls reach adolescence.
"I found that a great way to get kids to communicate, whether they're boys or girls, is get them in the car, and then, they're kind of… you have a captive audience," Baker said.
A former clinical psychologist who used to work with the juvenile courts, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of his work, says he saw more boys than girls in the courts. But the girls he did see were brutal. He said, "When girls are good, they're wonderful. When they're bad, they're impossible."
He says when parents are in the thick of the problem, a difficult child is a difficult child, no matter the gender.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
