Sure, all parents have their children on their minds. Right? You think about them a lot. Thoughts of their mis-deeds haunt you. Memories of something funny they said make you smile all of a sudden. Up until now, 'on their minds' was very much a figure of speech.
The University of Washington has conducted research showing that 63% of mothers have DNA from their sons, in their brains! Imagine that, we're stuck with them forever. The oldest mother with her son's DNA in her brain was 94 years old. So, its not just a temporary thing hanging around from pregnancy.
The research published in PLOS One doesn't mention about the DNA from daughters or what sort of effect this has on the mother. It did show that mothers suffering from Alzheimers were more likely not to have the DNA in their brains. However, I don't know if I should be interpreting that to mean that the opposite will be true, that mothers with sons that live with them forever will be less likely to get Alzheimers.
It was just a short article in the news but if you would to read it, go here.
So, it may be official that boys bug moms more. Boys bug mothers physically when out (like at birthday parties) and they bug them at night, even while asleep in their beds.
I bravely went, as a single parent, to a birthday party on the weekend. It was a friend's daughter's 1st birthday. Aaron and Adrian were the only boys there and the colouring and craft teepee (pink, of course) was nearly demolished by them. I wouldn't say they were 'naughty'. They were just more creative in their play and didn't want to be confined to just pushing pencils around. Misbehaving or not, my point here is that I had to keep my eye on them all the time, just in case. They were on my mind for the whole 2 hours we were at this party.
I have never actually looked after any little girls for extended periods of time but from the outside looking in, it seems that mothers of little girls are having an easier time than mothers of little boys. So, it was nice to read of this special bond that may only exist between mothers and sons.
4 comments:
Very interesting.
er, i thought the kids get their dna from us so i won't be surprised that there are some similarities? they should check whether dad has that too haha
I also read or heard somewhere that when you abort a foetus, their dna are also in their mother's brains.
Interesting observation. I can tell you, though, that our two granddaughters can give any two boys of the same age (5 and almost 3) a real run for their "creative play" money! This is why I sometimes look forward to going back to work after a weekend spent playing with them!
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