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        <title>The Gender Card - Loving, Laughing, and Trying to Leave a Legacy - heatherijames&apos;s Blog - The Bakersfield Voice</title>
        <link>http://www.bakersfieldvoice.com/home/Blog/heatherijames/27162</link>
        <description>I thought with the addition of the third male in the house, and me being the only female, our second bathroom needed an overhaul to make it less feminine.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; So, I wholeheartedly meant it when I asked the whole family to go with me to the store and help pick out colors and patterns.&amp;nbsp; But then, I saw it.&amp;nbsp; The shower curtain of my dreams.
I couldn&#039;t contain myself.&amp;nbsp; I had to make it mine.&amp;nbsp; My husband tried to steer me towards shower curtains that were striped and not too different in style from most of the shirts he wears.&amp;nbsp; I poo poo&#039;d them all.&amp;nbsp; I just had to have that shower curtain; almost as if my self-identity was interwoven in its majestic silky threads and Bohemic style embroidery.&amp;nbsp;
My husband reminded me the reason we were redecorating in the first place was to find something less frilly, not more frilly,&amp;nbsp;since the boys will be primarily using the bathroom.&amp;nbsp; &amp;quot;But our guests use that bathroom too!&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; I cried out with my fingers crinkling the silk curtain in a panic.&amp;nbsp; &amp;quot;I don&#039;t want our guests to think my tastes are defined by anything other than this shower curtain.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;
&amp;quot;What about the boys?&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; He asked.&amp;nbsp;
&amp;quot;One is too young to care and the other one just picked out a plastic curtain with dancing monkeys on it!&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; I replied.
&amp;quot;What about what I want?&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; He asked.
And though I was desperately trying&amp;nbsp;to not&amp;nbsp;throw out the gender card, I did.&amp;nbsp; &amp;quot;Between all the burping and farting and wrestling and dirty clothes thrown all over the house, I feel so outnumbered!&amp;nbsp; Please let me have this.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;
He finally succumbed.&amp;nbsp; Later, when I was putting up my shower curtain, my eldest was patiently watching me, cheering on my good tastes.&amp;nbsp; When I thanked him for his support, he simply responded, &amp;quot;Yeah, because I know I want dinner.&amp;quot;
I was touched.&amp;nbsp; They get it when they&#039;re young and somehow...it just disappears.</description>
        <itunes:summary>I thought with the addition of the third male in the house, and me being the only female, our second bathroom needed an overhaul to make it less feminine.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; So, I wholeheartedly meant it when I asked the whole family to go with me to the store and help pick out colors and patterns.&amp;nbsp; But then, I saw it.&amp;nbsp; The shower curtain of my dreams.
I couldn&#039;t contain myself.&amp;nbsp; I had to make it mine.&amp;nbsp; My husband tried to steer me towards shower curtains that were striped and not too different in style from most of the shirts he wears.&amp;nbsp; I poo poo&#039;d them all.&amp;nbsp; I just had to have that shower curtain; almost as if my self-identity was interwoven in its majestic silky threads and Bohemic style embroidery.&amp;nbsp;
My husband reminded me the reason we were redecorating in the first place was to find something less frilly, not more frilly,&amp;nbsp;since the boys will be primarily using the bathroom.&amp;nbsp; &amp;quot;But our guests use that bathroom too!&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; I cried out with my fingers crinkling the silk curtain in a panic.&amp;nbsp; &amp;quot;I don&#039;t want our guests to think my tastes are defined by anything other than this shower curtain.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;
&amp;quot;What about the boys?&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; He asked.&amp;nbsp;
&amp;quot;One is too young to care and the other one just picked out a plastic curtain with dancing monkeys on it!&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; I replied.
&amp;quot;What about what I want?&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; He asked.
And though I was desperately trying&amp;nbsp;to not&amp;nbsp;throw out the gender card, I did.&amp;nbsp; &amp;quot;Between all the burping and farting and wrestling and dirty clothes thrown all over the house, I feel so outnumbered!&amp;nbsp; Please let me have this.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;
He finally succumbed.&amp;nbsp; Later, when I was putting up my shower curtain, my eldest was patiently watching me, cheering on my good tastes.&amp;nbsp; When I thanked him for his support, he simply responded, &amp;quot;Yeah, because I know I want dinner.&amp;quot;
I was touched.&amp;nbsp; They get it when they&#039;re young and somehow...it just disappears.</itunes:summary>
        <language>en-us</language>
        <pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 19:53:16 PDT</pubDate>
                
                    <item>
                <title>May 26,  2008 at 02:05 PM : Haha,...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;Haha, Heather-i!&amp;nbsp; Very funny!&amp;nbsp; Hail to the all-feminine shower curtain!&amp;nbsp; Bravo -- it would be easy to succumb to the masculinity, being so outnumbered as you are.&amp;nbsp; :)&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakersfieldvoice.com/home/Blog/heatherijames/27162/#c_243856</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakersfieldvoice.com/home/Blog/heatherijames/27162/#c_243856</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;Haha, Heather-i!&amp;nbsp; Very funny!&amp;nbsp; Hail to the all-feminine shower curtain!&amp;nbsp; Bravo -- it would be easy to succumb to the masculinity, being so outnumbered as you are.&amp;nbsp; :)&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
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                    <item>
                <title>May 26,  2008 at 07:05 PM : Haha!  I so get where...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;Haha!  I so get where you are.  I too was the only &quot;girl&quot; in my family for 12 years.  Between the dirty clothes (you know what I&#039;m talking about if you&#039;ve ever had to seperate an athletic cup from a pair of baseball pants), the stinky little boy smell and the burping and yes the farting, I too wanted just a little corner of femininity.  But I also remember my little boys saying &quot;you look pretty mommy!&quot; or they would pick me flowers.  They do &quot;get it&quot; when they are little.  My hope is that they don&#039;t forget it when they grow up and have wives and little girls of their own.  They now have a little sister so I am not the lone female in the house anymore.  Hang in there!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakersfieldvoice.com/home/Blog/heatherijames/27162/#c_243959</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakersfieldvoice.com/home/Blog/heatherijames/27162/#c_243959</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;Haha!  I so get where you are.  I too was the only &quot;girl&quot; in my family for 12 years.  Between the dirty clothes (you know what I&#039;m talking about if you&#039;ve ever had to seperate an athletic cup from a pair of baseball pants), the stinky little boy smell and the burping and yes the farting, I too wanted just a little corner of femininity.  But I also remember my little boys saying &quot;you look pretty mommy!&quot; or they would pick me flowers.  They do &quot;get it&quot; when they are little.  My hope is that they don&#039;t forget it when they grow up and have wives and little girls of their own.  They now have a little sister so I am not the lone female in the house anymore.  Hang in there!&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
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