By Emily Washut 
As moms, we categorize everything. Girl mom. Boy mom. Wine mom. Outdoor mom. Farm mom. City mom.
Now there’s been an uptick in social media trends about exposing our girls to worldly and fancy experiences so someday they’re “not impressed by your dusty son.”
I won the parenting jackpot (in my humble opinion) and have an older daughter and a younger son. He’s five. Not a grown man making real-world decisions. Not a college kid learning how to adult. He’s five. He loves dinosaurs and Mario. His big sissy and his Great Dane. He is incapable of cruelty and is 100 percent a sensitive soul, love bug.
From the earliest age imaginable, we teach our children that words matter. Kindness matters. Sympathy matters. Yet, here we are…throngs of moms of young girls, storming the internet with: “
Feeding her filet at five-star restaurants so she’s not impressed by your dusty son.”
“Spending Christmas at a five-star ski resort so she’s not impressed by your dusty son.”
“Taking her 8,554th flight so she’s not impressed by your dusty son’s weekend plans.”
Have we gone so far in the opposite direction of adoring our daughters that we’re willing to let them (and all the brothers of the world) hear we value them more? That they’re worth more? That the sole purpose of the boys of the world is to impress the ladies, instead of partnering and befriending them on an equal playing field? Because it feels like that’s the message we’re sending.
So while some families are hyper-focused on raising daughters to not be impressed by my son, I’m going to be hyper-focused on raising a son who cares more about the person he’s becoming than whether or not that’s impressing your daughter.
I’m raising two someones who, regardless of their gender, are kind and understanding, stand up for themselves and their beliefs, help others in need, and lead when the occasion calls and support when they’re better served to. And, when it’s time for either of them to choose a life partner (even though at the moment, they’re both insisting they’re living with Mom and Dad forever), I hope they choose the same kind of someone. I hope whoever they end up with values true connection over advantageous connections, family over double black diamonds, and hot dogs at the fire pit in the heat of summer over white tablecloths and overpriced steak. (As much as I love an overpriced steak, I’m trying to drive home a point here.)
I hope with all my heart that neither of my children is impressed by full passports, fancy vacations, and more refined palates (still fighting the Goldfish battle over here). I hope they’re impressed by your children’s kindness, sense of humor, love for their family, sympathy, values, and moral compass, not the flex of how many countries they’ve visited.
Continuing this narrative that our daughters are more than our sons is just as damaging as the age-old sentiment that a father obviously needs a son, or that a son holds a higher station in the household than a daughter. I guarantee the girl moms posting these reels and memes (and reposting and reposting…we get it) would also be quick to remind us all to raise good humans. They’d want our kids to play together on the playground and invite my son to their birthday parties. So while it may seem harmless and fun, we should remember that words matter.
My daughter has value. My son has value. One is not greater than the other. These are little souls we’re readying to launch into the world to become mothers and fathers, friends, community leaders, and members of society. I hope we can teach them to live their lives to impress others with what matters most—not the things that give you the most social media likes.
by Carolyn Moore 
by Michelle Krol 
