Who was easier to deal with during the teenage years, boys or girls?

They posed different problems; my son (the older) was surly, sarcastic and broody. But as a first child he seemed constitutionally incapable of lying so always confessed, and did terrific things academically, dramatically and musically between his bouts of glumness.

My daughter was seemingly much more open and outgoing but had an uncanny skill when it came to stretching the truth. She also did terrific things academically, athletically and dramatically. I had to ferret out her acts of chicanery.

My step-sons behaved similary, my oldest being the same as my son, clomping around looking surly but telling the truth when asked, and my middle step-son was always hatching plots with my daughter. They acted like twins.

My youngest step-son was the runt of the litter, academically challenged because of dyslexia; he turned to coke and booze as a teen-ager, primarily because he got lost in the shuffle of the older four. They were all almost the same age, and life was hectic.

As a friend or parent ?

I’m sorry; I didn’t read the q clearly enough.
I never had a son but I would venture to say that my daughter was as unruly and difficult as most boys of that same description. My second daughter, however, is her mother’s pride and joy.

There is no difference between them. It depends entirely on their personality. Some boys are difficult, Some girls are difficult, and some boys and girls are angels.

Girls were easier for me because I had only boys!

My mom had 5 sons and 2 daughters. The oldest was a daughter who was quite responsible and straight A’s. My older brother was the same, but went a little wild between 15 and 17—dad straightened him out. The older sibs were our surrogate parents when our parents weren’t around. Mom could’ve used a few more like them. Like single minded little wild things, we were all over the place and into everything all the time. It must have been like herding cats. I think we drove my mom a little crazy. The only thing we didn’t do was present a united front, thank god, because we knew we were loved. If it wasn’t for school sports, Little League, Pop Warner Football, 4H, Scouts, Babe Ruth League, etc. (thanks to my dad), we would have driven my older siblings and parents to an early grave. My middle sister kept up with us rather well and became incredibly competitive later on. She became a world champion windsurfer throughout the 1980’s. We all did OK, but it was real iffy for awhile. Mom later found comfort with her protective, doting sons more than her daughters who had followed husbands to foreign climes, but I’m sure she prayed for girls in the early years.