Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

As both Audrey and Eli grow up it's becoming increasingly obvious the differences between boys and girls.

I've always been fascinated in the whole "nature v nurture" thing and as far as I can tell thus far we've brought both children up in pretty much the same way.

We've read them the same books, sung them the same songs, not really given any bias by providing one with Barbies and the other with guns. Despite this (and whilst it's certainly not scientific) it has been amazing to see how much;

Audrey loves cats, Eli loves dogs
Audrey loves fairies, Eli loves Bob the Builder
Audrey likes dancing, Eli likes whacking anything he can find with his toy hammer
Audrey wears pink, Eli wears anything that looks (even vaguely) like something Bob the Builder would wear.

It really struck home last week when we were in a playground and Audrey (who is sometimes a bit slow going forward on those things) was reluctant to climb up a ladder while her brother surged ahead, climbed up part of the climbing frame, fell on his head and then broke into fits of laughter.

They can be the best of friends and also (as I'm sure with all siblings) the worst of enemies. It's early days and obviously there's still time for Audrey to grow up to be a rugby player and Eli to be the next Billy Elliot (not that there's anything wrong with that of course). At the moment though it feels like "nature" is definitely playing a big part in their progress and outlook.

1 comment:

Dad said...

Trevor do you think you missed out not having a sister?

There is no doubt that our brains are wired differently dependent on whether were are men or women' You should see your mother with a road map!!!