POPSUGAR UK

Why Chrissy Teigen Doesn't Buy Into the Whole "Mama's Boy" and "Daddy's Girl" Stereotypes

20/02/2020 - 09:24 PM

..xxx on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in New York. (Brian Ach/AP Images for The Proctor & Gamble Company)

Chrissy Teigen is officially throwing preconceived gender expectations [1] for kids out the window. While promoting Pampers' Share the Love Campaign, [2] a movement meant to inspire and remind moms that they're doing great, the mother to 3-year-old Luna and 21-month-old Miles [3] opened up about how opened up about how terms like 'mama's boy' and 'daddy's girl'" can be problematic.

"I know for a fact that Luna and I have such a strong bond," Chrissy told POPSUGAR. "I always thought she was so close to my husband John, and I'd be so bummed. They would love on each other like crazy and she would just not hug me in the same way. I would notice all these little things. I would notice that my hug wasn't as strong. I would notice that she wouldn't blow me a kiss. But I know our bond now."

When Chrissy learned that she was expecting Miles, she admitted that she heard a lot of comments about how boys are always closer to their moms. Now, the 34-year-old mom is conscious of not feeding into those gender stereotypes. "People always told me that a little boy just loves on their mommy," she said. "I've taught myself never to say these things to women. If someone's pregnant with a boy, I never say to them, 'Oh, that little boy's just going to love you so much' because honestly, you never know. Now I'm hyper-aware of making those types of statements to other people."

"I would notice all these little things. I would notice that my hug wasn't as strong. I would notice that she wouldn't blow me a kiss. But I know our bond now."

And Chrissy can speak to the issue first-hand. Just like her relationship with Luna evolved over time, Chrissy admits Miles didn't fit the gender stereotype she was told about time and time again. "Miles isn't the most doting, loving mama's boy that everyone told me he was going to be," she shared. "I also had Luna, who was just so into her daddy. But now we're so incredibly close. Looking at Miles, who knows what he's going to be! He might be a daddy's boy, he might not. But personally, I know never to tell someone that just because they're having a boy, he's going to be so close with their mommy, or just because they're [expecting] a girl, they're going to be so close with daddy. You just never know."

Instead of shoehorning her kids into preconceived roles based on gender, she just wants her kids to have relationships with good people, whether it's her, John, their grandparents, or close family friends.

"Whenever Luna makes a drawing of our family, she includes [my mom] Yai," she explained. "She'll draw me Miles, John, and Yai, and of course my dad, Papa, is always in the picture, too. For them a family makes up all of us. It's not just a mom, dad, and babies, it's the grandparents, too. We also have a very small circle of friends with whom we have an open door policy. They're very close with them and very loving and excited to see them all the time. That's how I like it to be. I like them to just really completely engulf themselves in loving certain people."

Pampers' Share the Love Campaign was created after a survey revealed that 9 out of 10 moms thought they weren't doing a good enough job raising their kids. For words of encouragement or to spread the love on SnapChat, head to its website [5].


Source URL
https://www.popsugar.co.uk/parenting/chrissy-teigen-on-gender-expectations-for-kids-47237596