Nurture Vs Nature

Will boys simply be boys? Could this be true? For the past 15 years or so, I have leaned to the nurture side of the nurture vs. nature debate. My educational background is in sociology, psychology and family studies. I believed that if I raised my children with gender neutral leanings then they would pick up the best of both 'boy' traits and 'girl' traits.

I'm noticing this is not so. Ever since I had the boy, my theories have been slowly slipping out the window. Not flying, but slipping, testing my long-held beliefs.

Though my daughters enjoy trains, cars, dirt and dinosaurs, they most enjoy playing with their dolls. One is mommy, one is daughter, both have babies. Sometimes they even stick the dolls in their shirts and drop them out pretending to give birth! Hah! That mostly happened toward the end of my pregnancy with the boy.

But the boy just shows a natural affinity toward such things. If I give him a doll, a car, or a noisy lighting/musical toy, he goes for the car and starts making car noises! I don't even know how he learned that!

 The girls have both been very attached to their loveys since the moment they first held them. In fact, I've replaced them several times when lost without them noticing. Now they are too old for that trick and are perfectly happy to use a spare when we can't find Baby Pom or Baby Pim. But they can hardly pass a day without those little friends. The boy, on the other hand, to whom I've introduced a lovely several times, just throws them. Yes, just throws them. Out of the crib, out of his hands, out of the car seat. Give him a little stuffed animal lovey and he may chew on it for a moment, but then he tosses it aside like a stinky diaper (unless it is the aforementioned Baby Pim or Baby Pom, which he'll keep and then try to get away from his sister as quickly as possible!)!

Boo boos. The girls get the tiniest bump or scratch and its a tragedy as serious as Romeo and Juliet. Crying and whining commence. Bandaids and ice are required even if they haven't broken skin or bruised. It's terrible! And irritating! The boy, on the other hand, can hit his head on the floor hard, look stunned for a moment, laugh and go about his business. Sometimes when he accidentally bumps it he'll bump it again as if investigating the event. And when he falls off of something and smashes his face into the carpet whether the hard one at home, or the spongy one in mall play areas, he seriously just laughs and then climbs up to do it again!

My girls are girly. My boy is such a boy.

Nurture Vs. Nature? I'm now leaning toward nature.

How about you?