Are you a boy and girl mum?

Next month our little girl will turn two.

Two years old.

How the hell did that happen so quickly?

She burst into our lives as our little pink bundle of joy and she’s been everything that we had imagined when having a girl.

I’ve been able to buy all manner of things that were just off the cards when you have a boy. There really is only so much gender neutral that that you can get away with buying. I would have never bought into the whole rainbow leggings look (even in grey) for my boys, as it just wasn’t them.

They’re not stereotypical in just liking boy and girl things though. Tobias loves pushing around a doll’s buggy as much as Georgie loves getting out their cars and trucks…but I’d say that they are ‘classic’ boisterous boys and she tantrums like a diva.

I was chatting to a colleague the other day who has two boys and a girl, with the girl being her youngest. Even though her daughter is now a teenager she told me how much she still can’t believe that she has a daughter.

Much like me, she thought that it would never be on the cards for her and she feels like she lucked out when she came along. I’m always interested to hear how people find it being a mum to boys and girls and she felt it was undeniably different.

A difference that is more noticebable as they start to grow. She felt that her boys, although very loving, didn’t need her as much as her daughter still does.  Her daughter confides in her and seeks her help far more than her son’s ever did.

As Georgie is the youngest and for the most part, the cutest, my husband and I often just sit there marvelling at her. We love seeing her personality change from day to day and we do feel very fortunate that we’re both around most days to watch her grow.

My husband worked in an office for long hours when the boys were small and obviously he didn’t have as much time to see them change, as he does now with Georgie.

She’s typically girly in the sense that she loves walking around in my shoes and her secret mission in life is to steal my makeup bag. I’ve found her also trying to paint her toenails with felt tip pens, so she’s very resourceful and obviously watches me like a hawk!

We’ve also noticed that her moods can literally flip, like turning on and off a switch. Sometimes it can literally be out of the blue and we are at a loss as to what has caused the meltdown. It’s like a new realm to us, as she’s far more emotional than her brothers were at this age.

I know of friends who have little girls who have never wanted to wear skirts and dresses and prefer to play football. All of this wouldn’t be alien to me with having boys but what goes on inside the mind, most definitely is. That’s where it’s more of a minefield.

However, we realise that she’s that little more clued up (as girls often are with their development) and of course it’s mainly pure frustration at not being able to convey what she wants all the time.

Although she is my third child, I feel that it’s a completely new learning curve. It’s treading into new territory all over again and it will become more apparent the older Georgie gets.

So besides wanting a girl to be part of our family, it’s been interesting to see the dynamics of having another female in the house and how in many ways, the smallest member of our family puts us all firmly in our place, aged almost two!

If you have both sexes, how different is it for you?