Are girls or boys harder to raise? does age affect it?

Question

I know two families, one with 3 daughters (ages 10, 7, and 2) and a boy on the way, and another family with four boys (ages 6, 4, 3, and 15 months). When I've talked to them about the stress of being parents the family of girls is always WAY less stressed and more calm, and the family of boys is constantly screaming and freaking out and chaotic. The mother of the girls said she thinks girls are incredibly easier when they're younger, but she has a feeling that as they get older they'll be much harder than boys especially in their teens. The mother of boys says she hears it doesn't get much easier and she's going nuts.

Is it true that girls are easier? Or more importantly is it true girls are easier when they're younger and harder when they're older.

And all in all, would you rather raise a big family of boys or of girls?

Answer 1

genders dont matter... parents/time/position makes it harder or easier  

Answer 2

girls yes they are harder to raise

Answer 3

I think that it really depends on the children but I have always heard the opposite that boys are way easier than girls!

Answer 4

Girls, I never seen a girl that didn't need a good spanking.

Answer 5

from age 0-12 girls are angels

then from age 13 - 19 girls are selfish little (b*****s)

boys are always evil!

but they slowly mellow out as they get older...

in the long run I'd rather have a few years of peace with a girl...

the a not so great 18 years with a boy...

Answer 6

Girls are sugar and spice and everything nice, until they become teenagers and like boy's and think they know it all, and sneak out of the house in the middle of the night! Girls are hard to raise.....! Boys are cake! I have a teen boy and girl.....my boy is sooo much easier!

Answer 7

I have a boy and two girls.  And, although they are all different people, with their own needs & challenges, I wouldn't say that any of them have anything to do with gender.  

As for the teen years, boys have hormonal issues to deal with just as much as girls do.  I've seen it in my own nephews.  So, I don't think that makes much of a difference, either.  

All in all, I'd rather raise my family.  I really like all of the differences that make them unique & wonderful.  

Answer 8

There really isn't one specific answer that is true in all cases. My sister and I are both girls (I guess that's obvious, heh) and we're both teenagers (that's the prime age for difficulties right?) but we both happen to be extremely easy to get along with and extremely easy to raise (I actually asked my mom this).

My neighbor has raised four kids now, and has another kid who she adopted (I'm not counting her since she was in high school when she was adopted. She was pretty much raised). Of those kids, she has two adult children (a boy and a girl) and two teenagers (two girls). When I asked her which gender was easier to raise, she said the girls were infinitely easier.

Then again, most of the people on here who answer this question say that girls are much harder to raise.

My point is, it's different for everyone. While there might be an answer that applies to the stereotypes of the two genders, that isn't always reality.

Answer 9

I think it goes back and forth - each have their difficult stages. Boys difficult stage tends to be when they are younger and girls difficult stage tends to be when they are older. I would like to have a family of boys and girls, not just one preference (though I can't control that!)

I'm more afraid of raising girls though, with the sexual pressure that they face in their teenage years, and trying to make sure they feel self-confident and respect themselves, along with the mood swings from PMS..  

Answer 10

To me there is no harder to raise but hard to get past stereotypes about gender that unfortunately still exist in our society. Boys aren't supposed to cry.  Boys like getting dirty and rough play. Girls all love pink. Girls cry about everything. Boys are mean, girls are sweet. It's all a bunch of nonsense in my opinion.

I'm a mom to a little boy that HATES playing rough.  He will play cars and with a ball and the like but he does not like rough, rambunctious play. Hes almost 1 1/2. On play dates he gets mad when his pals play rough and get too aggressive in their play- both boys AND girls.

I think it really boils down to how with it are the parents in their consistency regardless of gender in their homes with their kids and the expectations that go with it?  Usually parents with loud out of control kids I find are lazy or tuned out to what is going on.  I want my son to grow up knowing it's ok for him to show his emotions- even if it means crying when he's very sad about something, but I want him to also grow up knowing he can be confident in who he is and to not let anyone tell him he can't do something because he's a boy or that he has to do something because he's a boy.  If he wanted to grow up and own a catering business, be a teacher, play in an orchestra, be a professional ball player or even be the CEO of a company I'm going to support his choice.  If in the future I am blessed to have a daughter I will raise her the same ideals of not letting someone tell her she can't or should do something because she's a girl. Raising kids to be ladies and gentlemen is appropriate and fine, but it should not come with gender typing kids.