It comes up all of the time, in little ways, especially with the way Max plays with more aggression or intensity. We certinly never described Zoey as a "girly girl" since early on she wasn't taken with dolls or princesses or playing dress up. She still loves her stuffed dog Buford more than anything else. Although she does like Polly Pockets dolls, she is more inclined to play with other things. She also is very aggressive and physical... but just not in the same way.
One thing Zoey does love is tea parties. We just bought a very inexpensive, ceramic set at IKEA the other day and she wanted to try it out. For the first time, Max was also interested, so he came to the little table we had set up outside and joined right in. Since this new tea set was ceramic (i.e. breakable) Zoey instantly new to be more careful. She did what I think most little girls would do- she held it very carefully and you could see she was playing the part of having a dainty tea party, almost naturally, like she just new that that was what you were to supposed do. Max, however, was to have no part in the delicate, careful, dainty ways of the tea party. (Ross is saying "of course, duh?" right now... Like why would I ever put the words dainty and Max in the same sentence.) Anyway, he stepped right up and wanted to pour the tea from the pot to the cup, but he just approached it so differently it was like an experiment of boys vs girls right before my eyes.
Zoey carefully held the handle with one hand and the lid with the other as she carefully poured the tea without spilling.
Max grabbed the pot on the side with one hand wrapped around it and after realized the lid would fall off as he poured, moved his hand to the top so he could hold both the lid and pot together and poured and poured and poured filling the cup to the brim, not caring about any spills. Here is a picture of the male way to pour tea:
I don't know if it was the male in him or the Max in him, but very cute all the same.
1 comment:
Very good insight to the boy vs. girl thing. I guess I never thought about it...but my kids are farther apart in age too. I don't have a girly-girl...although Rachel at one time would dress up because she would let me. However, these days I have yet to get her into anything PINK or a dress or skirt. Which is ok..But she isn't your normal teenage girl. She doesn't spend hours doing her hair or wearing makeup....maybe I should just be thankful. I don't know. Then, there's Josh. I wonder why Josh is such a quirky little guy. He has a really different outlook. He's been listening to Queen and wants an electric guitar (and lessons of course). He's into everything....and I'm tired just thinking about it. I wonder if that is good or bad. He has been doing his hair all spiky with gel. And he's very particular about the types of clothes he'll wear. It's amazing. He's very stubborn...I wonder who he got that from.
I like the picture of Max and how he pours tea. It's interesting how you described the difference in pouring between Zoey and Max and yet, you see how they play hey are similar in some personality (aggressive play, etc.) Do you think it's just female personality or is it something instinctual that says some things are done in a "dainty" fashion? Do we as females have that automatically even if we aren't girly girls?
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