If you recently gave birth to a boy, you run a higher risk of getting postpartum depression. Why? Well, for starters boys require more energy. Also, wo
men are narcissists who would prefer to have little mini-me daughters. Lastly, little boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dogs' tails. And snails are kinda slimy.
All right, so maybe I am oversimplifying this MSN article, which notes a recent study in France that implies mothers of small boys are indeed more likely to become depressed. However, the research was done solely on French moms and, as we already know, they are usually drunk or hopped up on nicotine. (Kidding, kidding). The story also points out that said research focused on only 17 women, which doesn't exactly represent a wide swath of the population.
However skewed these results might be, they did get me to thinking about whether women really do secretly long for little girls. I will admit that I had hoped for a daughter, either because a. I am a narcissist or b. because I think girls' clothes tend to be cuter. But once I knew I was having a boy -- and certainly once the little guy arrived -- I fully embraced him and don't think I was any more or less depressed because of it.
I've also had conversations with many moms who happily raise nothing but boys and, in some cases, even express relief about avoiding all the messiness of the mother-daughter relationship. So I ask you, Moms and Dads: Do you secretly wish you had a child of the same gender? And how has being a mother to a boy or a father to a girl enriched (or depressed) your life?
P.S. Narcissistic responses to this post are encouraged. I would have noted this before but I was too busy staring at myself in the mirror and imagining what a girl-baby version of me would look like.
Photo: shindigs.co.uk
