Before I had kids, I thought that each child was an individual, and I didn't believe much in gender stereotypes in children. Little boys ran and jumped a lot because that's the kind of games they were taught. Little girls played with dolls because that was the kind of toys they were given. I thought that if all kids, regardless of gender, were exposed to the same things, they would have the same tendencies. Then, I spent some time in the real world of kids and figured out that I was wrong. Possibly, there were some differences between boys and girls. I'm not saying that nurture doesn't have some effect, but I don't think that's the whole story. I'm going to share one of my experiences that led me to this conclusion. However, so as not to bias you, I'm going to let you guess who the boys in the stories are and who the girls are. Today's Story
Wally was in fifth grade and turning 11 years old. He had a pool party for his birthday at the local YMCA with both boys and girls. After an hour of swimming, the kids had pizza and soda. However, it took forever before the refreshments could be served. We were kept waiting by one group, which was in the bathroom, changing and making themselves presentable. Some of the other group changed out of their wet clothes, but many did not. When they finally sat down to eat, all of the boys sat at one end of the table, and all of the girls sat at the other end. One group saw how much pizza they could get into their mouths at once and laughed as they punched each other. The other group talked about who they were “dating.”
You decide. Which were the girls, and which were the boys?
________________________________________________________________________________
In case you had any doubts, the boys were the wet punchers, and the girls were the well-coiffed ones. It may have been peer pressure, but there was no mixing between the two. I found it very interesting that some of the boys that the girls talked about that they were dating were some of the boys who were at the party. However, the boys were clueless that they were dating anyone.
Until next time...
