Children are sponges of explicit and implicit information and actions; as such, it is my interactions and modeling appropriate behaviors with my spouse, children, friends, extended family, acquaintances, and strangers that is helping to raise my children. My spouse is my equal – she is fearless, courageous and the smarted woman I know. My wife feels the same about me (I did check with her first ahead of time). Neither of us is in charge of nurturing, breadwinning, athleticism, or cooperation. The first sentence of the book goes, Raising a girl takes two parents: A mom to show her how to be a women, A dad to encourage her to be fearless. Yet another disappointment. While it may be easier with two parents, it is not a requirement. My son and daughter will grow up with the same beliefs about woman and men because of the people or person who raised them. So, where did my thinking end up about, Is raising girls different from raising boys? Perhaps raising girls is different from raising boys but the parenting style and the set of values are the same.
I have raised both and find them often different in their needs but they do respond in similar fashion over a long time lind- say 20-30 years. Stick with it and keep plowing.
Paul