Two of my boys are very close in age (23 months apart) and two of my girls are very close (20 months apart.) So when they were all young the two little boys would take baths together as would the two little girls.
We had an assortment of rubber duckies of all different sizes. The girls would pretend one was the father duck, the mother duck, the big sister, etc. The ducks were all used in pretend relationships. I thought it was so cute. The little baby ducks, who was taking care of whom, little conversations, etc.
When the boys got in the tub with the same set of ducks the play was entirely different. They used the ducks as projectiles. They lobbed them high in the air with the aim of hitting the boat at the other end of the tub. When I said, "What are you doing with the duck family??" They looked at me incredulous saying, "Duck family! Mom, these are bombs!"
I made a mental note to remember that these two sets of kids were not at all on the same page. Their brains are just not wired the same way. It's obvious to mothers that boys and girls are so different from the very youngest ages. It's incredible that the notion that the differences are all learned was ever taken seriously.
7 comments:
It's so true! My boys will make a gun or sword out of ANYTHING. My daughter is the nurturing one. I know I didn't teach them these things!
Of course, girls are different from girls, too! We had girl, girl, girl, boy, girl, boy, and that last girl is NOT the same sort of personality as her sisters. And no, it isn't birth order, or being between the boys, or not mostly -- she pretty much came out feistier.
That is so true too, Salome Ellen. I have noticed that in my family too in the area of temperament and, in particular, feistiness!
I have boy, boy, girl, boy. The first three came in a 3 1/2 year span. The boys loved to play with Hot Wheels. They would race them, crash them, and on occasion send them flying. My daughter loved to play with Hot Wheels too. The cars would "marry", have picnics, talk to each other, and basically serve as dolls. She never liked to play with dolls but toy cars and toy animals served the same purpose.
Barb, I know what you mean about boys making a gun out of anything. The pre-school didn't allow toy guns but I picked my son up and found he and another boy were "shooting" other with the plastic chicken leg quarters from the kitchen center.
My daughters will take a pile of ROCKS and the little ones will be the babies and the medium ones will be the mommies and the big ones are the daddies.
Of course, to the boys, they are rocks (aka weapons of mass destruction).
I love your story, Rosemary. Very cute! (and all the other commenters stories, too!)
We only have 1 boy and 8 girls...and we can really tell a difference. Everyone assumed he'd be a "sissy" with all those sisters...but not so. From the earliest stages we could tell he was wired differently...I always say he's like a breath of fresh air among all the girlyness!
That's the funniest story I've read all day! What is it with boys? Our son would built weapons: swords, guns, bow and arrows, and even a trebuchet I think!
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