big-hearted, tough, challenging, and fun.

I wouldn't mind at all if my kids thought of me this way: -- big-hearted, tough, challenging, and fun.

I think this is an aspiration that mothers of boys would have, more than mothers of girls. At lease I don't know if I would have had this aspiration if I had two girls. One of each? Who knows. That's when you have to admit that not all boys are alike and not all girls are alike.

Having boys has made me value a big heart, shrugging off the small stuff, hanging tough, rising to challenge. My pre-kid fantasies of girl children were more about emotional bonding and domestic sweetness.

Having boys has also kept me big-hearted toward men. I understand them more than I used to. So I believe, at any rate. Perhaps I just sweat the small stuff less in those relationships too.

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"the teacher every kid should have -- big-hearted, tough, challenging, and fun."
Scott, describing his wife, in Old Bulb Gardens' "Friends of Old Bulbs Gazette"