When asked if she wants a girl or a boy, most mothers will give a maternal smile and claim, “I just want a healthy baby.” But deep down, doesn’t everyone have a preference—even just a tiny one?

I know I did. When I became unexpectedly pregnant, I just knew I was going to have a boy. Not because I wanted one; because of the opposite. I figured, as a lifelong feminist who, after plenty of babysitting experience, had an aversion for little boys who ran amuck, broke things and invoked chaos into your home, it would simply be karma working at its best for me to get a baby boy instead of a girl.

It was okay; I even had a name picked out for a boy, of course, and was making early plans to raise him as compassionately and respectfully as I could. But when that sonogram technician asked us if we wanted to know the sex—and we gave an emphatic “Yes!”—and she typed “THINK PINK” on the screen, I breathed out a joyous sigh of relief.

Does that make me sexist? I don’t think so. I also don’t think I’m in the minority when it comes to my preference, either. Many parents hope for a certain gender, and a majority of those are saying that they’d rather have a girl because girls are supposed to have more advantages these days than boys.

While I completely disagree with that sentiment—and would argue that both girls and boys are being born into a tough world and both have some pretty rough hardships to face in front of them, with girls often facing more struggles than boys—it’s still an interesting factor in the preference for a child’s sex.

What about my daughter showing so-called male tendencies? Well, she has yet to start really smashing things and wiping boogers on me like the toddlers I babysat, which is a good thing—but little girls can do that too. And she is a bit of a tomboy, preferring cars to dolls, blue to pink. I think that any child exhibiting a balanced behavior between gender stereotypes not only grows up into a more well-rounded person, but also helps eliminate such stereotypes one by one.

Would I have loved a son as much as I love my daughter? Absolutely. And I would have figured out how to take care of him, just as I did with my baby girl. I’m still quite happy that I have a daughter, but I’d like to think that I’d feel very blessed either way.

Did you have a certain sex in mind when you had your child? Did you do any weird practices or traditional “remedies” to try to ensure a child’s gender? Share your story below.