The differences in my two boys always amazes me. While Ethan is thinking of schemes to get girls to stay away from him (like not brushing his teeth in the morning and breathing his stinky breath on them, or purposely being really annoying), Joshua came home one day and said that he has a “girlfriend” and that he wanted to give her a gift. Together, we decided to give her a pretty gift box with some nice chocolates, tied with a red ribbon. He was so excited to give it to her the next day, but was so disappointed when he found out that she had gone on vacation to Japan. Ethan was so upset when he found out about what Joshua was doing (it didn’t follow his “Ethan rules”) and it took lots of threats and talking to make him not tease Joshua about it. By the time the girl came back, though, Joshua had lost his nerve and the box of chocolates stayed in his backpack for a couple of months. Finally, though, he thought of a plan to give her the gift without being embarrassed in front of his classmates. One day he woke up really early, got ready and ate breakfast, and was ready to go to school by 7am. He insisted on leaving and it wasn’t until later that I realized why- he wanted to get to the classroom before anyone else so that he could put the gift in the girl’s cubby without anyone seeing him. He did it, and even owned up to it when the teacher asked who had put it there. Afterwards, he was so proud of himself! I hope this means that he will be attentive and romantic when he grows into a man.
Interestingly enough, though, both of my kids when asked what kind of girl they liked, said that they like girls who act like boys. But the girl Joshua likes, while she may act like a boy, is still cute and well-groomed and wears skirts. Ethan said that he does not like girls who smell too nice or look too pretty because he says that means they spend all of their time trying to look nice and don’t pay much attention to their schoolwork, so they are probably not very smart. Ethan enjoys being with girls who he shares interests with. I think Joshua would like a girl who he can show off for and who would stroke his ego and admire him. I can’t wait to see if my prediction comes true!
