Monday, October 20, 2008

Boys and Girls are Different!

This post is part of Family Moment Monday sponsored by Motherhood for Dummies.  

As I have raised my children it has become very evident that boys and girls are very different by nature, regardless of how they are being raised and what they are being taught.

Girls are so emotive, so expressive-- even girls who are naturally quiet or shy still seem to have a complexity of feelings and a desire to express those feelings that I just don't see in boys.

For example:

My daughter Mary, when grocery shopping with me when she was about three, stopped in front of a large display of Classico spaghetti sauce and threw her arms up in the air with great enthusiasm.  She exclaimed, "Oh, I love this stuff!!!"

I was so surprised because I didn't even think she liked tomato sauce.  I said, "You do?"  

Her reply?  "Not really.  I just felt like saying that.."

I laughed so hard.  She was practicing expressing herself!  Practicing being a woman-- forming an opinion.

Another incident occurred in the bathtub.  I had two very young girls and two very young boys at the time.  The girls took a bath together and so did the boys.

We had lots of rubber duckies.  A mom and dad duck, then some medium sized ones for older siblings and little baby ones too.  The girls loved to play with them, naming them and acting out little family scenarios.

I checked on the boys to discover them lobbing the duckies into the air toward the other end of the tub.  I said "What are you guys doing with the duck family?"

They looked surprised.  "Duckies?  These aren't ducks.  They're bombs.  We're trying to hit the boat on the other end of the tub."

Nuf Said?  The hard wiring is just not the same.

11 comments:

Mandy said...

Fun stories to remember. Yeah, they are definitely different, since I have 2 boys and then a girl, I am learning how much so! Right now we are going through the emotions with the boys but I know it slows down for them and then my girls emotions will come, that part exhausts me...

Suzanne said...

Such funny little stories!

Unknown said...

I think it is funny how I have a very shy and reserved boy and a spunky dare devil of a daughter. And yet they are still definitely "boy" and "girl". Duncan's favorite activity is crashing cars. Over and over again. His second favorite is caring for a baby doll. Probably because he sees mom more in action than dad. But that is changing.

Even though she just turned one, Gianna has very in depth conversation with dolls, stuffed animals, and anything remotely humanoid. Duncan never has done this. But of course, she is learning to crash cars from duncan.

:)

Kalona said...

Yes, the hard wiring is different. When my daughter was little she wanted to do everything her big brother did. So when he got Matchbox cars, she wanted them, too. But when they played with them, he would race his cars, crash his cars, make cars sounds. She would have a daddy car, a mama car and a lot of baby cars. :o)

Lyndsie Miles said...

LOL! I love stories like these! My little ones are very much like this! My little girl is VERY expressive and emotional. My boys are VERY much boys by nature. Bomb duckies and all!

A.D. McClish said...

HAHAHAHA! That is so true!! I always get a little worried when my son makes his dinosaurs but each other. But that's just boys I guess. :)

Mimi said...

Tee heee. So true, we've been talking about this a lot lately with several other people, in my younger, more feminist days, I was sure it was nuture, but now I know that is truly nature.

Sarah - Kala said...

'nuff said for sure.

My girl actually tries to drum a beat on the snare drum, but the boys only beat the shinola out of it.

Kellan said...

Those are the cutest stories - I love the duck story - HA!

Have a good evening - Kellan

Melissa said...

Ha ha love the stories, super cute!

Spence Ohana said...

LOL this post made me chuckle! Hi I'm Melissa, I found your blog via Catholic Mothers Online.