Boys and Girls

I often wonder where my Boy learned to act so much like a little boy. One of his first noises that made sense was "brumming" a toy car. From a very early age he figured out pull-back-and-let-go cars and push-along cars. He is also surprisingly accurate at throwing a ball for an under-two, and takes great delight in doing so (and applying his throwing skills to unfortunate objects such as stones,and unfortunate targets, such as the cat). After two and a half weeks of walking, he could convincingly dribble a football. He also stares at any TV that is turned on (to any channel) like a zombie, exactly like his Daddy, not only that, he can figure out how to turn on most televisions he comes across (a worrying prospect), and on ours, if left for a few minuets while I clear away breakfast things, he can open the TV cabinet, turn on the set, the sky, and find and play a recording of "In The Night Garden". His boyish gadget talents extend to finding music to dance to on Daddy's phone, and being able to fuck up ANY cycle on any dishwasher or washing machine by pressing pretty buttons (yes, that's right folks, he's buggered up other people's washing too....). Toys which "do" anything are not played with, but turned over to discover how they work. If something can be destroyed, he will have a go; he cannot abide blocks and towers more than one high,and simply must bash them all down in the most violent manner possible. He is also a total foodie, and eats vast amounts like many men (but not his Daddy) do. A recent breakfast consisted of a banana, a yogurt, and three wheetabix....you could fit him in a wheetabix box! On a similar vein, he is a very messy eater (even by baby-led weaning standards, I can assure you) and is only very gradually growing out of this. Friends have said how much of a "boy" trait this is, although I just think that kids who enjoy food are messy.

He seems so different from the little girls we come into contact with via parent-toddler groups! They seem dainty to his tearing around elephant-style. Don't get me wrong, he loves quietly reading books too, but I wish he could perhaps be slightly neater or cleaner. No matter how often I clean them, his ears are always mucky, and he almost always looks vaguely half-dressed due to dirtying one or more items of clothing. He is also the least clingy child to ever walk the earth, which makes it hard to comfort him when he gets hurt,as he pushes me away with all his strength, while still crying heartbreaking tears. It also sometimes makes me wonder if he loves me as much as his Nana, or as much as other children love their parents! He will smile at/be picked up by/"talk" to anyone, even if he can't see me close by. He hasn't yet learned how to kiss and cuddle, these things are unimportant to him, I almost adore it when he is ill, and he actually wants to sit on my lap to snuggle.

Where did he learn to be a little boy? Surely I haven't already thrust gender roles before him and said "Here, son, be a boy,"? He does have a little doll, but she isn't as well loved as his cars/trains/blocks. I'm coming around to the thought that perhaps little boys just are more likely to pick up toy cars than anything else in the toy box, something in their little male brains draws them to it, something that was there long before I uttered the words "What's wrong with a doll? I'm having no gender stereotypes in this house!". Perhaps it's his uber-masculine Daddy, who's first word was "car", believe it or not. But what I love most about my manly man is that he doesn't feel any need to be masculine. Football? Boring drivel. A beer? Oh maybe a few, but you can't force me to drink my weight in Bud and have my blood replaced at A & E. Periods? Yes love, you're due in a week, I think. A true man is one who is himself, and slave to no man. I hope my Boy grows up to be just like Daddy.