Who stole my child?

Tonight I made scallops for dinner. Widget loves scallops. But, instead of pan searing them and serving them plain, I baked them with butter and bread crumbs (I've been trying to do baked meals since cooking when she's wanting attention is trying at best.) She refused to eat them, because they were "dirty". And then she wouldn't eat the roasted potatoes I made either, until I let her cover them in ketchup.

So, I got to trot out the hated line of my parents: You don't have to like it, you just have to eat it, which was always the rule when I was growing up. What happened to the girl who'd eat any and everything I'd offer her? I liked that girl better. *sigh*

Ponderings

ali_redux posted a link to this article over in thegirlproject. It's interesting... apparently, some economists have found a link between divorce rates and the genders of the children being raised in the marriage, with between a 5 and 10 percent increase when marriages have only daughters. That's interesting all on its own, and deserves further pondering.

One of the statements made by the author regards the prefence that couples have for boys over girls. Now, maybe this is one more way I'm out of step with the mainstream, but I've never wanted boys. I hoped from the moment I found I was pregnant that Widget would be a girl, and Wiley seemed to feel the same way (I mean, I wouldn't have tossed a boy out with the bathwater, but I *wanted* a girl). Most of my real life friends also seem to feel the same way - I know that at least my female friends seem more interested in raising girls than boys. I also know that if Wiley and I were to have another child, I'd still be hoping for a girl. So now I'm curious about what the rest of my friend's list thinks on the subject. Not statistically relevant, but perhaps it'll satisfy my curiousity. Hence, a poll.

[Poll #199683]

Personally, I suspect that, at least in the US, the effect is partly based on beliefs about what kind of parenting and role models daughters and sons have, paired with the fact that children more often a raised primarily by the moms after a divorce. I'm particularly curious about the remarriage rates for moms of girls vs. moms of boys. I'd be curious to seem a similar study of dads who end up with sole/primary custody of daughters vs. sons. I'd expect, if my thoughts about gender role models is on the mark, that you'd see a reversal or the rates. I'm also curious about the briefly mentioned study indicating that mothers of sons are happier than mothers of daughters. He mentions that the study was statistically suspect, so perhaps it's not that valuable, but I'd still like to check it out.