Boys vs. Girls
People talk the most amazing amount of twaddle when it comes to the behavior of boys and girls. "Boys are easier than girls." "Girls are easier than boys." "Girls are easier than boys until high school, then it's the other way around." Since most of these people have only two or three children, they are basing their opinions on a rather small amount of data. I really think people flap their lips on this topic just for something to say, rather like talking about the weather. Now, I do think that there are differences in the behavior of the different genders, but the oversimplification and sheer thoughtlessness of the people who tend to expound on the topic drive me nuts. Most of them are merely finding justification for their ingrained support of the patriarchy (she said, waving her fist in the air).
I was sitting in a dentist's waiting room waiting for Gillian, and the other parents fell into discussing their children. One woman was saying, "My boys were always easy to deal with, but girls are harder. I love my daughter, but she's rotten." She said this right in front of her three-year-old daughter. She went on, "We butt heads all the time. She won't listen to me. I think it's because we are too much alike."
And do you call yourself rotten? I wondered.
Another woman said calmly, "I've never found that either boys or girls are easier. Each child is different."
"But she drives me crazy!" said the mother of the purportedly rotten girl.
I piped up. "You may not like her independence so much now, but just think, when she's in middle or high school, she won't let herself be swayed by her peers. She'll think for herself."
The woman seemed to be considering this, but who knows, she may just have been thinking, "Who the hell are you, waiting room stranger?" I hope she listened, though.
I was sitting in a dentist's waiting room waiting for Gillian, and the other parents fell into discussing their children. One woman was saying, "My boys were always easy to deal with, but girls are harder. I love my daughter, but she's rotten." She said this right in front of her three-year-old daughter. She went on, "We butt heads all the time. She won't listen to me. I think it's because we are too much alike."
And do you call yourself rotten? I wondered.
Another woman said calmly, "I've never found that either boys or girls are easier. Each child is different."
"But she drives me crazy!" said the mother of the purportedly rotten girl.
I piped up. "You may not like her independence so much now, but just think, when she's in middle or high school, she won't let herself be swayed by her peers. She'll think for herself."
The woman seemed to be considering this, but who knows, she may just have been thinking, "Who the hell are you, waiting room stranger?" I hope she listened, though.