Wednesday, August 22, 2007

He said, She said

Yesterday I started watching my two nieces once a week for my sister-in-law who is in grad school. Ella and Chloe are three and two respectively and my children just adore them. Ben, in particular is smitten and, in the way of boys since the beginning of time, somewhat bemused. My nieces are the picture of gorgeous girly sweetness. And Ben is, well, he's Ben. Rough and tumble and mischievous. In short, he's a boy.

Anyone who does not believe that God created boys and girls differently would have done well to be an observer at my house yesterday afternoon. Watching these two obviously different species try to find common ground was a comedic lesson in gender particularities.

At one point Ella put a crown on Ben and told him he was the king. Ben was happy with this arrangement.

"I'm the king!" Ben boasted, puffing out his skinny chest.

"And I'm the princess" Ella replied coyly, wrapping herself in a blanket for a gown.

"You're the princess!" Ben roared again.

"And so we should get married" she said sweetly.

"Married. Okay!" Ben responded, still using his deep shouty voice (apparently this is how kings talk...very loudly)

"So let's get mar-ried!" Ella was becoming slightly exasperated with Ben's strutting.

"Okay" replied Ben, "We're married." Then he struck his best ninja pose, "Now let's fight!"

Hmmmm. Ben's perception of marriage seems to be a bit skewed. We may need to work on that. And poor Ella, she just stood there bewildered. She never had a chance.

8 comments:

painted maypole said...

sounds like you have a little Henry VIII on your hands.

S said...

Hahahahahah!

I love it.

And I agree, 100%, that boys and girls are practically different species -- from birth.

Bea said...

It's Peter Pan and Wendy, all over again.

JustMe said...

Laughing, laughing, laughing. Ben sounds JUST LIKE my three year old! Where do they get this Ninja thing from, anyways? When I watched my two year old niece (in a house full of boys), she ended up running around the house with fake ninja swords and baseball bats by the end of the day. (SSHH!!! Don't tell her mom!)

Christine said...

i would never have guessed that there were any gender differences between kids that weren't socially imposed before i had one of each. now i know that there really is something encoded in their little heads that makes them different in their owns ways!

Ms. Skywalker said...

Funny how perhaps that doesn't change as they age.

Built differently, most definitely.

No doubt about it.

Beck said...

Heh. That is SO funny.

Lynn Stallworth said...

That is SO funny! It goes to show than men really can't help it. They've NEVER had a clue! Hmmm, maybe all they really want is for us to strike that Ninja pose, too.