The Y chromosome

Up until my adult life, I was a firm believer in the "equality" of sexes. I used to think that women and men were identical and that it was just "nurture" and not "nature" that made women and men act the way they do.

But- after being married for almost ten years, and being a mom of a little girl, I have to admit, that nature has more to do with it than I thought.

Steve is a wizard when it comes to building things, creating things, and is pretty darn strong. No matter how hard I try at these things, he will outdo me- every time. But, he is kind of oblivious to things that I find almost innate. It is at this time, where I am speechless. "You think what?" I just have nothing to say. It's almost as if he sees a blue apple when I see a red. He probably thinks the same of me.

Example #1: This morning we were asking Maddie what she wanted for breakfast. Steve is not really a traditional fellow, and often eats dinner leftovers for breakfast, which I find really weird- so he offered her lasagna from the night before. Of course I knew that Maddie would not eat lasagna for breakfast, but I let him try. The second he put the lasagna in front of her, of course the tears started coming and she refused to eat it. I gave her the normal oatmeal... and she was happy.

Is this the Y chromosome? Maybe not, maybe it's just a personality thing. But, here's another example...

Example #2: Maddie was having a hard day and having a two year old tantrum- so Steve decided that she need a time out and put her in her crib. With her shoes on. I got very upset because 1. her shoes were filthy, 2. I would have to clean all of her sheets and put new sheets on... which would take me forever. He thought I was crazy.

"How would you like me to put your shoes on your pillow?" I asked. He responded, "I wouldn't care, I would just wipe it off."

Wow. I just can't comprehend that.

Example #3: A while ago, I picked out all of the paint colors for each of the rooms for our house. He started to paint Maddie's room- which is a very faint pink. Later that night, he came home and said "the color that you picked for Maddie's room is way too much. I can't believe that you picked that color." Very worried, I rushed over to the house the next day and checked it out.

I almost started laughing. The reason it was "way too much" was because he painted the whole room pink. Including the ceiling!!!?? He had no idea that ceilings stay painted white.

But to his credit- I can be very irrational especially as I approach my 9 months of gestation!

As we finish our house, I can not fathom moving in without interior trim around our windows and doors. Is this necessary? Absolutely not- but if I don't have it, I just feel like I'm going to die! How irrational is that? So, I went to the trim store, bought a lot of trim, and will now attempt to put in all of the trim of our house as I am 8 months pregnant.

He thinks I'm crazy. And- perhaps I am.

But- that's why we're human. I really believe that there is something to the woman/man making each other whole concept. There is some sort of ying/yang that happens, where one lacks, the other makes up for it, and makes a solid unit.

I guess the trick is to hold your tongue when the opposite sex says something you find completely ridiculous and try to understand what they might be saying. And, if you can't understand it (which may be most of the time), pick your battles. It probably isn't worth it :)