Saturday 21 March 2009

Because a guy is a guy

Remember that thing about snips and snails and puppy dog tails?

Its all very western, and I don't presume to really have an appreciation for it. I have a small sample size of children that I have studied. Nowhere close to statistically significant. So don't think I am generalizing or anything. Exaggerating, maybe.

* Girls like pink. Sample size: Two. The pink night suits we bought for my niece and the monster were big hits. They wore it together "matching" and seemed very happy. The monster also got a green one with big dinosaur pictures on it (mostly, Stegosaurus), which was from the boys rack although I told her it was from the girls section (so sue me) and she liked it well enough. The niece fussed a bit since hers was one of those long t-shirts, but we assured her it was meant to be like that, plus, it was pinker than ever, so she was fine.

* Boys really dont care. Sample size: One. The nephew hardly bothered with colour, size, texture, anything. He wore what we bought him proudly. The blue and red one was big and dangling near his feet. He did not care. We made him change and went back to the store and then the sky blue shorts (el cheapo ones, so sue us) were small. His mum made him sit down and get up a few times and declared it a winner when it did not tear. He did not care.

* Girls talk too much. Sample size: One. Monster. Big mouth. Okay maybe two. Myself.

* Boys have junk in their pockets. Sample size: One. He had a piece of glass with some sharp metal things sticking out. A piece of nasty looking play-dough. A snotty handkerchief. I confiscated the glass piece and put it away on top of the music system. He was watching with eagle eyes (I did not know). Today when they left, he took it back (I had forgotten he can reach, being almost as tall as I am). I pried it away from my hands, he cribbed. The husband grabbed it and my mum promptly threw it away. He sulked and sulked till I gave him a green stripy plastic ball and a small blue number (5) to put in his pocket.

* Girls are very nice. Sample size: One. Niece. Very considerate and understanding and sensitive, especially in direct contrast to her brother. (Obviously, not all girls, take, for example, the monster).

* Girls love gossip. Sample size: Five. Mum, sis, I, niece and monster. All chattering away. The walls are still echoing with our stories and walks down memory lane and plans and list-making exercises.

* Boys need the TV remote. Sample size: Three. The kids were watching TV. Some annoying thing I couldn't be caught dead in front of. We let it be since we were tired. & who had the remote? Guess. Then my brother in law came back tired out from the traffic, but guess what he did first? Grabbed the remote from son. Then my husband returned home cursing Mumbai (& Bangalore) traffic, and guess what he did first? Teased the kids of course, but insisted on the remote. And our TV is away in the guest bedroom. Not even in the living room where us ladies were sitting gossipping away.

As always I miss them incredibly now that they have left. We all ate milkmaid (I felt bad for eating it last week knowing how much both the kids love it), collected all nature of flowers from the road, read and read and read Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton and Junie B. Jones (I am pretending to be screening everything for the monster), and struggled over the single bathroom in the mornings.

4 comments:

Choxbox said...

wow, five girls sounds like fun!
and your nephew is as tall as you?! wasn't he born like just the other day?! in fact i remember your niece's pic when she was really little too.

as husband-man says, they start early when it comes to talking and then never stop. was meant to be a reassurance to a paranoid friend who's kid (same age as n4) hadn't yet started to speak while she was eating our ears off.

dahl - hmm, Matilda and The Twits are slightly dark-ish IMO, what do you think? n3 read them at around 6 and was okay but at a year younger you may want to see if non-M can take it. the all-time favourite here is The BFG btw. also there's The Roald Dahl Treasury which has bits and pieces not published elsewhere along with excerpts from his published works along with some trivia, and there's Revolting Rhymes and such like. so bring her over here, there's an entire section dedicated in our house to Dahl, some collected when we visited the Roald Dahl Museum.

was in a bookshop today and spotted 'someplace fresh'. so tell me would it be okay? i remember you'd suggested a wodehouse - was it this one?
(note to self: why bother reviewing when it can be outsourced to kenny)

okay end of my guest post in your blog.

Parul said...

And girls blog about what happens and boys... don't. Well, not too much at any rate.

wordjunkie said...

Some outliers...

Boys love gossip and also talk too much ... with each other. Example husband on phone, yacking with friends.

Junk in pockets..er, I'm am always, always guilty. My jeans, and all the various bags we use at playtime are always loaded with crap we find.

Some girls are not nice .. sample some of the Imp's friends

And our TV remote is grafted to the Imp's hand.

Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm said...

chox-
uff how much homework, will get back to you. Yet to read the Durrells. Reading Ranjit Lal now. He seems to have some kid books, if you find any give me a shout on how it is.

Matilda was accepted OK. Not tried Twits yet. Nonsense rhymes rock (I like!)

Parul-
True true. Boys care mainly about cars and you know and they possibly write about those (yawn)

WJ-
You outlier, you! Monster should be imp's friend by that token. Rude she is.