Friday, August 15, 2008

Boys and Girls Are Different

This is what I caught Isaac doing at the dinner table last night. He didn't know anyone was looking, he was just quietly admiring his biceps.

This past year and a half (since adopting our Liberians) , I have been struck by how different it is to raise girls and boys. It took me about a year to get used to the differences. I've learned that when I ask the kids to be quiet, the boys will not infer that I mean: be still. They know how to roll around like a tumbleweed while being perfectly quiet.

I've learned that pride in manliness in inborn. They are born wanting to conquer and protect. Ten minutes after this little act of pride, Isaac was telling Daniel: Don't hit Lydia. You have to be gentle with her because she's a girl and you're a boy.
This muscle-bound boy is going to make a great Daddy one day.

I'm Curious: What differences have you noticed between your daughters and sons?

7 comments:

Lori said...

You hit it on the head when you said that they don't infer you mean be still. Girls can sit quietly and draw and color while boys are building things just to tear them down. A book I read really helped me: Wild At Heart by John Eldredge. And even though you might have a gun free house they will some how figure it out and make anything into a gun.

Have a great weekend!
Lori

Faith said...

Well, the most obvious is the boys LOVE to be rough. They love to wrestle and push and tumble and don't cry like babies. The girls loose it if Daddy is a little too rough but the boys thrive on it. The boys are all about conqueering things. They go around the house with their play guns and swords pretending to slay the dragon or tiger while protecting the girls. They fulfill the roles very well in this house. I LOVE having my boys.

Anonymous said...

Ginger, that comment about treating his sister more gently melted my heart. I'm sure it did your's as well! What a great son you've got there! :D

Nealy said...

I didn't have a brother, so I've learned that girls who grow up without brothers are more sensitive, don't like to rough-house, don't like to be tickled, can't take a joke, and so on. Girls who have brothers are typically far more versatile!

Ginger said...

Well that is definitely true, Mom! I hadn't tho't about that as a benefit to our adoption, but the girls will be much more flexible as a result of growing up with boys.

rachel said...

I got a laugh out of this one! Yes, my boys are drawn to the typical boy toys and my DD loves her dolls, but in my experience you can't depend on it that girls will be easier to raise or train. I waited years for my little girl, being sure that, as a single mon, it would be somehow easier. But she's been TOUGH! :)

Ginger said...

Oh boys are easier! Girls are emotional; boys are physical. But with physical demands, I can just send them outside. *I* don't have to be physical with them. They run and jump and play and then daddy rough-houses with them when he gets home.