by Adrienne Hodges posted in Mom Stories

My 7-month-old doesn't like books. Goodnight Moon makes her squirm and whine; she struggles to close The Runaway Bunny so she can jam it in her mouth. So the night before Baby Story Time, I warned her dad to prepare for the worst.
Still, it was hard not to fuss about our daughter's first "class." I dressed her in brand new bunny overalls. Her father packed her in the car, cooing "Who's going to story time"" and I headed to work to await the recap.
An hour later my husband called with the good news: our daughter loved Baby Story Time. Yes, she'd fought to crawl away during the actual story, but the fussing and flailing had been minimal. There had been feathers, cups, rattles and bubbles -- so many things to grab, rip, growl and scream at. Other parents had marveled, "She's so animated." "It's exhausting," my husband had replied. "They all wanted to know what she's eating," he laughed. Our daughter is a big girl, so I wasn't surprised. 95th percentile in weight, height and head size. She's breastfed almost exclusively, but already has six teeth.
My husband's report was unequivocal: our daughter was the Baby Story Time star. The largest, the loudest and the most active. We basked in our smugness for a moment before...
"Wouldn't this be better if she were a boy""
A large, loud boy could grow into a large, loud, successful man. A large, loud girl won't have ...