The Difference a Y-Chromosone Can Make

Several years ago my friend and I went to check out a bible study at church. At one point of the evening one of the women who has 2 sons says, "Boys and girls are no different from one another when they are born. We program them to be different." My dad, who has one daughter, moi, and one son says,"I do not agree at all. I can tell you from experience that boys and girls are vastly different from the moment they enter this world." I agree with my dad. Now I am not saying that there aren't girls that are rough and tumble and like to play in the dirt; or that there aren't boys out there that enjoy playing a fun game of "house" or "school" with their friends. But, in general, boys are girls are crazy different from one another. I have been babysitting 3 girls recently. Love them. They are polite, quiet, and actually feel full when eating, and remain full for several hours after a meal. The oldest girl is 4 and she will take our large blocks and build castles, using my sons pokemon dolls as princesses to be rescued (my 7 year old would have a heart attack if he knew this was happening). The girls create games to play on their own. They create imaginative games to play together. Did I mention they were quiet? Quiet. Now that is a luxury that I do not experience...ever...in our home. Ever. Boys are loud. Even as I type our 3 year old is LOUDLY whining about something fairly insignificant...like he can't get his train to turn in the right direction. Boys are easily distracted. I will spend time planning and setting up and awesome activity for them to do, and within 15 seconds (can I even give them that much credit) one of the boys is like, "Squirrel!" and the rest of the boys follow suite. Boys are gross too. They just are. While the girls I babysit play house and love babies, I had boys over the other day and the younger ones all sat in a circle and smelled their feet, laughed, and smelled their stinky feet again. I mean, are you kidding me!? No one warned me about this stuff. Having children was supposed to be nothing but sunshine and roses, and ofcourse, GAP Kids clothing. In my experience it isn't ALL sunshine and roses, and there is ZERO GAP Kids in this house. And funny as potty humor may be, there comes a point where it has to get old...or you would think. This morning our 5 year old found a DS in the car, grabbed it, and started tape recording his "sweet" little voice. You know, a recording that I can keep forever to remember how he sounded when he was sweet and innocent and always listened-ha-kidding. But this is what Mark and I heard in the back seat, "Poop poop poop. poopy poopy. Fart. I pee my pants. AAAH! Poop poop poop. poopy poopy. Fart. I pee my pants. AAAAH!" Over and over again. And because we are good parents we started laughing. Then Mark told Drew it was time to stop with the potty talk. Drew took that as his cue to whisper this new song, not yell it. Like I said, he's a good listener. It truly is just mind blowing how different boys and girls are from one another. My boys scream, scratch, punch, kick, and wrestle each other. We practically have wrestle mania in our home every afternoon. When Mark comes home from work all the boys are begging for wrestle time! There is just something hardwired in them to want and need that kind of physically aggressive play. And over the years I have grown to love and appreciate just how different my boys, and life are, from the tea parties I had envisionsed I would be having one day with my children. They are loud. They are crazy. And they make us laugh daily. I wouldn't change it. In fact, when I finally had the opportunity to play an imaginative "pet shop" game with one of the girls I babysit, I literally looked at Mark and said, "I have no idea what I am doing. I don't know how to play!" I'll stick to the farting and burping and wrestling. And I have to tell you, that even as I type, the elementary kids are getting off of the bus and walking through our yard. As I look out the window the girls are walking side by side, deep in conversation. And there are 6 boys in our front yard all grabbing onto each other and trying to throw one another to the ground, with huge smiles on all of their faces. Unreal. The Always Chaotic Life of, The Joyful and Tired, and Content Mom