Yes, I Have All Girls. No, You Don’t Need to Feel Sorry for Me.

As the mother of three little girls, I feel so lucky. My first pregnancy (twins) was not a very easy one, and resulted in two preemies who had a long battle in the NICU. When I became pregnant again a few years later, I was so grateful to experience a normal, healthy pregnancy. In all honesty, I didn’t care if this baby would be a girl or a boy. All I wanted was to deliver a healthy baby who could come home with me. No surgeries, no NICU, no ventilators. Just a healthy baby.

When we found out this baby was another girl, I was so excited. Three beautiful girls! How blessed am I? After finding out, I spent the next few days imagining the new baby in all my big girls’ old clothes, imagining helping three girls get ready for prom, and all the other fun things mothers get to do with daughters. But apparently, the rest of the world didn’t see it quite that way.

“Oh man! Your poor husband!”

“Welp, looks like you’ll have to have another!”

What? Why?! Why would anyone feel bad for my husband for having three healthy children? Why would I have to try for a boy? Guess what, world- a perfect family is a happy, healthy one… not necessarily one that has an equal number of male and female anatomy. If you have all girls or all boys, you’ve likely heard these comments, too. Or if you have one of each, I’m sure you’ve heard many people say something like, “oh! A boy and a girl! You can be done now!”.  Maybe it’s just me- but having strangers in Target comment on if I should have any more children just irks me. It’s certainly not their decision, nor any of their business.

Yes, the perfect all-American family is usually drawn with a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a dog, and a white picket fence. My family photo might not look like that, but I certainly don’t need anyone to feel sorry for me. And here’s why:

1. My three girls are the best of friends, and likely always will be. Even as adults, my sisters are my best friends. Of course, I love my brother to death… but there is just something a little different about the sisterly bond (same with the bond between brothers). My sisters and I have talked about things my brother would never want to hear. We hang out, we share clothes, we get pedicures together. Sisters are built-in best friends. Likewise, my brother grew up best friends with a family full of boys. And they wrestled each other, and played baseball together, and built forts together. There’s just something special about same gender siblings.

2. It has saved me a ton of money! I’ll never have to buy my youngest a single piece of clothing in her life. She has bins and bins of clothes in every size saved from her sisters, waiting for her to grow into. Of course, I still do buy her things, because who can resist those adorable newborn baby girl outfits… but, the majority of the time, baby rocks her hand me downs!

3. It makes getting along a little easier. Usually. While I certainly don’t believe in “boy toys” and “girl toys” (my girls have a garage full of skateboards, hockey sticks, and 4 wheelers… as well as playroom full of Barbies), let’s face it- no matter how hard I tried to be gender neutral, my girls tend to favor typical-girly things most of the time. So, there’s very few arguments when it comes to what movie to watch, which game to play, etc. They’re into the same shows, the same toys, and the same activities.

4. They complete me. My three girls- each so beautiful and full of life and unique- absolutely complete me. It’s hard to remember life before them and impossible to imagine life without them. They are my greatest accomplishment, the reason for my every breath; my world revolves around them. My heart is so full and complete. 

Don’t get me wrong. We fight over toys and who gets to wear what outfit. Our house is loud and full of sass. And we are inevitably going to have many more fights and stressful nights. But, my family is perfect. And a little boy wouldn’t have made my heart any fuller. So, yes… my husband is outnumbered, but you don’t need to feel sorry for him.  Yes, we have all girls… and we wouldn’t want it any other way!

Are you an all-boy mom? Or an all-girl mom? Heard those comments before? I’d love to hear why it makes your family perfect! Chime in below!