Back Around the House II: Boys are different to raise than girls

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Last week I overhead a young mother say, “Boys are definitely different to raise than girls.”

As a mother of five boys and three girls I would have to agree with her. They are neither better nor worse than girls, but they are definitely different. Our young grandsons are living proof.

Our 4-year-old grandson looked at his mom with true love in his eyes and said, “One day I want to marry you.”

She quickly replied, “What will we do with Daddy?”

The boy just looked puzzled and walked away, but a little while later he was back with his solution. “Well, I really love Daddy too, so I guess I’ll just have to marry both of you.”

That same grandson stayed with us one morning. I played tic-tac-toe with him for awhile, and he was very good at it. When I had to do something else, I suggested Grandpa play with the 4 year old. The grandson won the first game so Grandpa began to pay attention.

The boy made his move, and Grandpa blocked him. The grandson narrowed his eyes and looked Grandpa over as he noted, “Hmmm, you’re smarter than you look.

We got a call from the boys’ school one day. One of them had an earache and they couldn’t reach his mom. We agreed to pick him up and bring him to our house. As he crawled into our car, I asked him if he had remembered to sign out. “Nah,” he replied, “you only sign out if you’re going to the dentist.”

Another grandson, age 3, asked his mom, “What’s for supper?”

She said, “Pork chops. Do you want them barbecued or marinated?”

His response, “I want them irritated.”

That boy made it to age 5 in spite of his brother who was two years older. In kindergarten he met a new friend we will call Sam to protect the guilty. He invited Sam over to play one day. When his mom came to pick Sam up I welcomed her on the porch. As we entered the house we heard a terrible racket. I thought someone was falling down the steps. But no, it was Sam teaching our kids how to ride an ironing board down the steps. She took Sam home. My boys were disappointed because they never got to try it.

During a Memorial Day party at our house, one of the uncles was teasing a 3-year-old nephew. The boy tried to annoy the uncle, but just got teased back. Finally the boy went outside to play. Within minutes he was back. He said he lost his ball.

Someone told him to go look again. Again he came in and said he couldn’t find it. The uncle, an obliging guy who really loved the kid, went out into the yard to look for the ball. Immediately the kid climbed up on a chair and locked the door.

I was shopping with a 4 year old and his mom one very rainy day. He got tired, so I took him to the front of the store where we sat on some chairs in front of a big window. After a short while he flipped over, putting his head on the seat and his legs up the back. His shoes were dry, and he wasn’t doing any damage, so I let him go. Shortly he straightened up and went to sit on the chair at the end.

A lady came up to look out at the rain. I told him to move back so she could sit down. He did, and she did.

We chatted with her, and then he confided, “You can put your head on the seat and your feet up the back if you want. My grandma won’t care.” She looked at me suspiciously, and went out in the rain.

Yep, boys are different to raise than girls, but both are a lot of fun.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This column was first published in the Greenville Daily Advocate Feb. 9, 2005.

To my friends – I am sorry to tell you that our oldest son, Bill D. Floyd of New Paris, passed away last Thursday, Nov. 8. We will miss him so much. Please pray for all of us.

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By Kathleen Floyd

Back Around the House II

Kathleen Floyd is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her column Back Around the House II. She can be reached at [email protected]. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

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