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Parenting

30th Jul 2018

8 things you’ll only understand if you grew up a tomboy

Niamh Maher

GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE.

We’d love to believe that we all grew up perfect little princesses, but the truth is many of us, particularly those who grew up with a pack of brothers, remember the good old days of being a grubby tomboy, and it certainly had it’s charm.

Here’s a few things you’ll ONLY remember if you grew up a tomboy:

1. Wanting to play with just boys – not that there’s anything wrong with playing with those weird fake kitchens or ironing boards, but the boy games were just more fun! Yes, there was a greater risk of getting injured…but that was the fun of it.

2. Only wearing old tracksuits that belonged to one or all of your brothers/cousins – dresses just would not do (much to the dismay of your mother).

3. Developing serious crushes on the boys but being firmly friend-zoned – this is probably due to the aforementioned fashion issue.

4. Knowing every WWE wrestling move – yes you were usually the one that the brothers practiced on, but you could still deliver a mean Clothesline manoeuvre.

5. Your mother screaming at you constantly – the boys were roughhousing and you were in constant danger up just STOP IT.

6. Being confused for a boy – hang on a second, we didn’t want to BE boys (not that there’s anything wrong with that) we just liked mucking about with them, there was that unfortunate haircut when we were 8 which caused a ton of confusion but we moved past it.

7. People questioning your obsession with sport – this was particularly tough during that drop-off zone period, being a 15 or 16-year-old girl and explaining you had a tournament or a match and couldn’t go to the party was ALWAYS met with confusion. That still stands to this day.

8. Still wanting to be pretty – just because you were/are a tomboy doesn’t mean you don’t like nice traditionally ‘girly’ things, our best friends are girls, we love makeup and traditional ‘girly’ things. We could probably just kick your a** in a fake wrestling match (couch cushions as ropes).

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