There’s a pity party going on for all those families raising girls. Dads get apologetic grins, pats on the shoulder, well-wishes for the future, and jokes about the state of his daughters and his health during the teen years. The funny thing is that, even though it’s 2025, there is still an underlying expectation that every couple and every dad must have at least one boy to call his own. Maybe it’s a way of carrying on the family name or having a ‘son’ to call their own. Sadly, mothers in all-girl families, often envied by others, receive little to no sentimental pity, even though they are living in houses full of wild and crazy boys.
Visit any playground or schoolyard, and you’ll easily see the difference between boys and girls. The boys are the ones scrambling to the top of the monkey bars, venturing into uncharted territory to the dismay of their teachers. They’re the ones throwing down little girls and stealing kisses as they come down the slides. Before a teacher or mom can catch them, they disappear with the quickness of a bat chasing a mosquito—only much noisier. Boys are also the ones who seem to act the most ADD during school, terribly bored with lessons, attempting to release more energy than they could possibly expel in one day. They sit fidgeting, nervously moving in their seats, and ignoring the teacher’s pleas to sit still.
Raising boys is much like raising the devil’s spawn. They are more active, completely hyper, and obviously reckless in their behaviors. They can ravage a living room, playroom, or kitchen in minutes, and much like little swine, they are perfectly content amidst the chaos. In fact, they enjoy it. Boys seem to have an engineering mind from a young age, placing and formulating blocks in such a way that the destruction is awesome and loud. And when boys go somewhere, they are running—just like Forrest Gump. Poor mom and dad trying to keep up with these crazy, busy, boisterous creatures can certainly take its toll.
The Challenges of Raising Boys
There are other aspects of raising boys that can make parenthood difficult, to say the least. They tend to be harder to train at everything. You’d think potty training would be a breeze since it’s so easy for them to pee in the potty, but moms worldwide are forced to put targets in the water just to get their little guys to aim. And since they can’t stand up to poop, many are perfectly content sitting in their soiled diapers. This is definitely not the case for most girls. Watch any version of America’s Funniest Home Videos, and you’ll see that little boys have no issues falling asleep while on the toilet. What is that about? Falling asleep at the dinner table eating asparagus is one thing, but on the potty? Really?
Aside from bathroom habits, which don’t seem to change much as they get older, boys are definitely louder. Compare an all-girl household to an all-boy one, and you’ll get very different volume readings. Girls may squeal, but they don’t romp and pounce like tigers. They don’t throw couch cushions to the ground and jump on them or climb the cabinets. Most girls escape from a crib once, but boys will risk broken collarbones to get out of anything that requires commitment by the age of two! Raising boys is like herding cattle—constantly. They take off in new directions, and parents have to remain on their toes like cowboys, guiding them in the right direction and keeping them within their confines. Where little boys get all their energy from is amazing. It’s probably why they become so lazy around age 40, when most females are just getting started. They burned themselves out at a very young age.
Boys are hands-on. They’re feet in the mud and tough to the bone. They communicate with their friends and fathers by wrestling each other and hanging spit boogers inches from each other’s faces. While girls can definitely be manipulative and mean, you rarely see them threatening each other with spit. Boys rarely care about clothes; most of them have holes in their jeans, and mama’s boys are easy to spot by the age of 5. Raising boys is like running a three-ring circus where the only time things are calm is when they’re sleeping. And when they are sleeping, they’re adorable—whether they’re 3 or 13!
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of raising boys is when your boy doesn’t fit into the stereotypical “boy” world. Today, men are able to do many things. They play the piano, flute, dance, compose music, cook, and stay home with the kids. Unfortunately, age-old ideas of dads having a little baseball buddy still penetrate the minds of many. For a boy interested in reading, the arts, or music, their road ahead can be tough. Raising boys who don’t fit into the perfect little box of manliness can prove to be a struggle for both parents. The bottom line is that you have to love them for who they are. Raising the devil’s spawn—crazy, busy boys—is still easier than raising girls. According to surveys nationwide, parents of both sexes admit that boys, while rambunctious, require much less emotional strain than raising girls. Maybe that, too, is because of boys.
