Who’s Harder to Raise – Boys or Girls?

In the June issue of Parenting magazine, they have an article called “Boys vs. Girls: Who’s Harder to Raise”. It’s an interesting read. Their breakdown in regards to which is harder:

-Discipline: boys
-Physical Safety: boys
-Communication: first boys, then girls
-Self-esteem: girls
-School: mostly boys
Their bottom line: “On balance, the general consensus seems to be that boys are more of a handful early on, and girls more challenging beginning in the preteen years.”

Personally, I think that it depends on the individual kids and their parents. I’ve worked with kids from newborn to college-aged for the last 14 years in various capacities. I’ve seen a lot of girls that were a handful early on that grew up to be wonderful young ladies and I’ve known a lot of sweet natured young boys who became “terrors” as they grew older (and vice versa!).