I spent yesterday afternoon with my friend's two little girls. They are the same age as LB & JC, but that's just about where the similarities stop. And maybe I'm just comparing my boys to someone else's girls (let's face it- kids are always worse around their parents), but I definitely noticed some big differences.
1. The Noise Factor. Little boys make a lot of noise. All. Day. Long. Little girls make noise, but it's gentler, less harsh. There's more quiet sulking than angry screaming. There's quiet tea time & jewelry time & dress up time. There are no trucks smashing into each other, superheroes defeating every single imaginary bad guy, and no wrestling to the point of either of them crying. And most of all, girls typically don't make sound effects for everything.
2. Their Interests. Little girls (and I'm speaking in very broad, general terms here) love dolls and dressing up and princesses. Little boys (also, very general) love trucks and robots and action figures. I can do the little boy stuff, but it was nice to have some time to wear plastic necklaces and twirl in a tulle skirt, too.
3. Their General Energy Level. I know some girls are bouncing off the walls, but my boys run all day long, circling the kitchen, around and around and around... when they're not running, they are hitting something. When they are not running or hitting, they are jumping. And when they are not running or hitting or jumping, they are pretending to punch and kick. They MOVE, all day.
Then, there are personal differences. The older girl had way better communication skills than LB, naturally. It really gave me a feel for what neurotypical kids his age are like. I remember teaching kids this age, but being able to remind myself of a 4 year old's typical progress gives me an idea of where LB stands and what he needs to work on.
Overall, the afternoon was easy-peasy. Of course, I'm sure the girls give their parents hell! Don't all kids? But it was a nice change from my very loud, very boyish household. And I'm sure when the kids are teenagers, the tables will have turned, ha!
1 comment:
As the mother of three boys and one girl, I couldn't agree with you more! I took a sociology course in gender in college, and the prof., whose wife was pregnant with their first child at the time, insisted that most characteristics of boys and girls were due to nurture. HA! I wonder if he feels the same way now.
My boys are in CONSTANT movement from dawn til dusk, constantly hitting things or each other, and desperately want to save the world, superhero style. Makes for a very tired Mama!
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