Hi, there~
I was in absolute shock when the ultrasound technician told me I was pregnant with twins. Ten minutes later when the neonatologist told me she was pretty sure they were both boys, I was in double shock! I already had a daughter so I was glad that was out of the way. Nevertheless, I was worried about what I was going to do with boys. It turned out that little boys were their own special joy that I never imagined in a million years. (Picture this: They used to play army, march around the yard singing and holding little flags on sticks. The upper level of the swing set was their fort. It was so adorable when they pulled up all sorts of ferns from the woods behind the house and stuffed the ferns into the slats on the sides of the upper area so their fort was camouflaged. Very imaginative.)
Anyway, I found that my little boys had a lot more in common with little girls than I ever expected. Mine liked to dance, sing, and shake tambourines & maracas to Disney music, and they loved to put on shows for us just like my daughter. Usually the shows involved music, singing and dancing.
They loved the toy kitchen with all the plastic food (male chefs?)--plus a cash register and a few plastic trays. In fact, little boys like to help cook just like little girls do. They also loved their plastic work bench. In fact, they tugged on my heart one day around 5 yo when they opened Daddy's tool box in the garage and were trying to take apart their bicycles. I looked at them and thought, "They're practicing being like their Daddy."
They loved their stuffed animals (and still won't let me put them away at age 11), and all 3 used a pop-up fire truck for a very long time. Most of the books we read weren't specifically for boys or girls so I wasn't forever making truck noises. (I even found that I really enjoyed the matchbox cars, probably more than they did. Did you ever see the VW van with the peace sign or the pop-up camper? adorable!)
All of the kids enjoyed playing with the Little Tikes farm with extra animals while one son really got into dinosaurs--plastic ones and lots of books. Instead of Polly Pockets, the boys enjoyed a knights and castle set immensely. The clothes were removable, etc. Same with Barbie/Ken-type dolls, i.e., firefighters, soldiers, etc., whose clothes could be changed. Instead of pocketbooks, they came with walkie talkies. Different, yes, but not too bad. All three, esp. one boy and my daughter, loved to play with Legos for hours of fun, albeit her houses had elaborate pools and more details.
One of the very best toys I had for my kids were two laundry baskets full of dress-up clothes. The boys enjoyed hats, scarves, clip-on ties, vests, old Halloween costumes, and even their sister's flower headbands and old dance costumes. They even liked getting their fingernails polished when they saw me or their sister having it done.
One of the other best toys they all loved were arts and crafts materials. Our whole dining was an arts and crafts room. (Now it's my jewelry designing room!) The boys liked coloring books, cutting, gluing, stickers, painting...you name it. The boys even made decorated Valentine's for school. Play-Doh was lots of fun, too, using a mini rolling pin, toy knife, small plastic cookie cutters, etc., etc.
I've said many times that little girls grow up to be big girls, but little boys grow up to be men. This is most likely one of the only tender, sensitive, and vulnerable times in their lives before they become whiskery, deep voiced, muscular, and all of the other typical stereotypes. Potentially, you'll never have more influence on any male than the influence you have in the lives of your little boys during their childhood years.
I hope this gives you some ideas and/or a different view. Just try to find some gender-neutral activities that you'll enjoy more, too. Don't beat yourself up. I'm sure plenty of mothers through the centuries have felt the same way. I found pushing kids on swings to be very boring and had a real aversion to tossing a ball over and over and over to kids who couldn't catch. Bad mother I was! LOL Good luck.