Girls and boys - what do they really think of each other?

They may be illegal these days, technically, but what Greek ever takes any notice of the law. One has to consider the number of olive trees, size of the fishing boat, number of houses, number of houses which actually have indoor bathrooms, any possible supermarkets, and number of weird relatives kept out of sight until after the ceremony.

Hi bounce, I too thought that was very funny. :) Wonder why the girls didnt announce they saw aliens. LOL. Anyways, thea, we have a dowry system out here as well. And personally, I am for it. I dislike children fighting over parents properties after the parent is no more. :( So if the girl's share is given to her at the time of marriage, I see nothing wrong. I believe boy's share should be larger as he ends up looking after the parents out here, and for a longer time. And the girl shouldnt come running back asking some more - either by herself or through her in-laws. Its a different issue that they may all choose to collectively do some business. But larger share should be the boy's because the responsibility of both parents is shouldered by the boy. Law needs to reexamine this. :( Either children share the responsibility equally and share the properties equally after the parent's demise. Or they part in a different ratio. I wonder how it is in fjaril's country? Out here, we are unable to remove the disparity! I simply find no logic in parents of the boy asking monies that are well beyond the girl's entitlement. :( Now, I am taking the discussion to another angle, am I not bounce. :) Sorry. :)

After reading Hatley's response, I now realize my response does NOT qualify. Pardon the intrusion.

Hi Hatley, that is why I'm wondering where boys get this view. There is no religion in my house and no man on the premises yet still these ideas come out. He has already announced he is a better driver than me which is quite ridiculous as he can't drive. I don't let him get away with it but I think it must be something to do with them taking different sides of the playground.

hi thea I think that you are right, also boys tell each other a lot of stuff they hear from their dads and bigger brothers and some probably heard dad say men rule etc etc etc.that is such a shame. You would think by now in the year almost 2010 we would have got past that. I know that you set your son straight on that but its so tough for little girls to have to live through that stuff.we should all know better by now.

I really don't think that little girls buy into any of that stuff anymore Hatley. I'll be curious to see how it all develops as they move on to the mixed secondary school, at age 11 I went to an all girls school so don't have any experience of boys in that age group.

Not in my case. We actually had one room for 1st & 2nd grade, another for 3rd & 4th, & a 3rd for 5th & 6th grade. After that, each class had one room per grade. There once had been a chemistry lab, but it had become a dusty store room by the time I was enrolled at 5 years of age. And we had a large lunchroom, a small principle's office combined with a tiny library. Restrooms were out-houses (male & female back to back). When those burned down, they were replaced with flush toilets--still separate from the main building (though now, there was at least a canopy that stretched between the two). Years after I'd moved away, the school was closed down & the few remaining students sent to other nearby towns' schools). Half of the main building was removed, the big lunchroom became the town's first Roman Catholic Church, & the rest became a laundromat & senior citizen's daycare center. There had been a big gymnasium, too, but it had also burned up long ago. Actually, I can see the advantages of the one room school house. Kids in younger grades get much more than segregated ones do, as they can hear what they'll be studying, eventually, themselves. Plus, older kids can help the teacher keep an eye on the younger ones. Just a thought. Maggiepie "WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"

Hi Mags, welcome to one of mine at last. All those things you describe are out of school activities so did the bonding with the boys still carry on in the playground, or was it more segregated as it is now. I notice they are fine one on one but tend to break into genders in groups these days. Again I think Cloud was spot on when she observed that boys don't think its manly to like girls,whilst the girls just probably find the boys too irritating to put up be with. I'm going to be interested to observe what happens in secondary school as I attended an all girls one. Having no brothers the male between 11 and 18 remains a bit of a mystery. What on earth is 'tatting'?

Was it one of those 'Anne of Green Gable' type schools where all ages studied together in one classroom? Those sort of schools must have been so confusing for the teacher.

Yeah! Like, when he's 35? Lock him in the closet at least 'til he's past his teens, if you want to remain sane through those years! Well, kidding, but I hit puberty at age 11, & my poor guardian angel must've had to get combat pay 'til I was probably 23...25, maybe! Hang in there. With prayer & close watching, you can survive! Maggiepie FORMER TEENAGER

Hi doryvien, giggling and crying. Boys are always giggling too but at that age it really is about the most boring things, I can't wait for the toilet humour stage to pass. Mine has the added advantage of being billingual so when the humour becomes too much for me in one language he simple switches. I'm with you on an older age, I'll go with 18, I think Mags is going too far with 35 as locking them up that long could get a bit suspicious when the army comes calling at 18.

Hi Bill, it is indeed showing to be a global thing. If your daughter hears ten year old boy humour at school she's every right to think they are nothing more than a nuisance at times. Your son shouldn't get daft ideas about boys as he's got his sister to talk some sense into him if it starts to happen.

Hi nani, you seem to have missed the point rather, this was an amusing look at children and how they perceive each other, not a bible lesson. There's a religious interest section on here where you can find discussions about whether people are created or not.

thea09 - you are right, there are always exceptions to the rule, no matter what we think the rule is. And in a way the exceptions are just as natural as anyone - God just made that person different. Boys and toilet humor, yes, it is a given. Ordinarily, I think girls will just say 'gross' and walk away. Although sometimes girls will try to act cool and they might start to copy the boys. Scary, I know. Have a wonderful day.

hi djbtol, indeed the interest of each gender generally differ, though there is one girl on the local footfall team, I don't know if she worries about breaking a nail or not. Ten appears to be the boys age for anything toilet related being incredibly funny and I can quite understand that the girls aren't so easily amused.

I have noticed that girls tease girls about boys, all in good fun, but if a boy teases a boy about a girl, it is an insult and can result in fisticuffs.

Hi Cloud, I think your last sentence sums up the whole matter brilliantly - at a young age boys are deciding it just isn't manly to admit girls are OK. Spot on. Obviously working with children all these years, plus raising five sons, makes you know of what you speak. I would say that probably up to 8 when going round to play at a friends house mine would go to a girls as often as to a boys, then the girls started pairing off more into best friends with each others and all that kind of thing seemed to stop, and now its just boys houses mine goes to. In my experience girls out shone boys academically but in my sons class it seems a bit mixed with the consistently top students being of both genders. Actually thinking about it it is 3 boys and 1 girl which is a reversal of my own primary school days when definitey the girls did better. Interesting.

In some cases parents may express 'boys will be boys', and they boys may be acting out more than should be allowed. I would have to say that the girls are just as prone to bad behavior, but of a different kind. Their bad behavior may consists more of words, attitudes and meanness in relationships. Girls are often better at holding grudges. However, I don't want to generalize too much. All of them, boys and girls, are just growing and learning. Hopefully they will all mature at an appropriate pace and be ready to be adults and parents. djbtol

hi jenny, the exact same thing happened to me yesterday when I was replying to you, then poof. I can never do it twice so always go away and come back later. Apparently my son is so well behaved at school I hardly recognise what emerges after 4, but then he tells me he's been so good all day he can't keep it up any longer. Bad behaviour at school is not tolerated here as the children are all brought up to be respectful and show it to the teachers, it's a great system. Any misconduct and they are taken to the dish, sorry the headmaster. That's the big bad guy who buys icecream for my son when we meet him outside. Cloud said something which was spot on, it's not cool for the boys to think they like to play with the girls. I know its just playground joking really but I do tend to lose out on the better drivers argument.(because better is faster).

ooh..those are even worse.. we get those in big pods sometimes.

Hi scarlet, great resonse there.Now I wonder if there's any leech filled ponds around here? I know a bit of sea which is prone to jellyfish.

Yup2x.. daddies too. They are always the unsung heroes, but they are heroes for sure, after mommies. But some daddies have taken the roles of mommies.. and for that, I salute them. It's there, just that I took the space to dedicate a small portion to mommies. Your dad is cool... My daddy too, and all daddies in the world..

Hi Zed, by the way I protest at this large Z as an avatar, it is without doubt the worst yet. I won't be that one around. Ha, girls huddling and whispering and gossiping, was that your experience of school days. I missed all that as went to an all girls school from 11 to 18. Boys couldn't be trusted then to study with girls alongside or they would have been too distracted from their books to get on with any work, whilst pining for the lovely girls with lovesick sighs. Or something like that. We are currently at the stage where all the best friends are boys, apart from the charming creature whose name must not be mentioned but is already lined up by her mother as the future wife. So glad to hear that you appreciate Mama's as I'm all that is around for my son

Hey Zed, my papa also sacrificed a lot for me! He is also as great as any mother. He even stitched my clothes! There are plenty of good things about daddies as well. My daddy strongest. (Even at 75).

Oh, what a pity! Usually, most "artsy-craftsy" people are eager to discuss their chosen craft with people such as you! The reason is that such things are mostly done by machines, today, so the arts of sewing, crocheting, knitting, macrame, tatting, embroidery, rug-making & so on are dying out! Many are trying desperately to pass these on to younger folks so they won't die out! So next time you see someone tatting, just ask them to give you a brief demonstration. I'll bet you a spool of tatting thread--you pick what color--that if they have even a few minutes, they'll show you how! Tatting is easy, once you know how to hold the thread & shuttle; my grandmother taught me how in less than 5 minutes! Have fun! And you may even make a new friend--who knows? Maggiepie...^..^

Hi Mags, you really aren't supposed to have 2 boxes in the same THREAD you know, little play on thread there of course, and so glad to realise that tatting has nothing to do with potatoes after all. What a strange word to use for the fine art of lace making though, it really does fit better with pototes, for instance I sometimes cook up a 'tattyash'. Personally I always resisted learning any such crafty things, knitting and sewing were around but I found them so boring, just not my thing at all. I believe the ends of the white cloths here which sometimes hang as small curtains on the bottom part of small shuttered windows are generally hand laced but I suspect will be replaced by machines, if not already.

Hi Maggiepie, that is one thing I am dying to learn. :( I learnt crochet, but tatting was the one that fascinated me. We have these suburban trains on which some ladies would tat such beautiful things. I never had the guts to ask them. :(

Right now i don't have to worry about ryan & the girls for awhile because he says he's never leaving his parents, I laughed & told him that would change.

That's exactly what mine says. I point out he'll have to leave me to go in the army but now I've discovered that should be renmaed the holiday camp.

Yassou Aunty, so what age will Ryan be when you'll have to start worrying about the girls calling? I suspect that the girls develop their crushes a little earlier than boys, Hugo is already subject to one but I think she's just adorable, and they are good friends, but I'm not supposed to mention her name. He considers that being too much teasing.Very touchy he is about it so I limit myself to asking how she is.

They do translate a lot of that stuff into Greek, such as Scooby doo, but so far no Dennis. HE's certainly had a good innings if he's still going strong.

Hi malpoa, we don't get Dennis the menace over here but I remember having him around in my childhood. Does he still carry on I wonder. Girls are far better at using boys to their own advantage whilst we concede that boys have the edge on us in brute strength. Quite agree with the multi tasking bit as well as that certainly isn't a trait of most boys, although mine certainly has it down to a fine art. I let mine believe indeed that boys are better cooks than girls, whilst encouraging him in the art of learning to cook me a banquet up.

oh yes dennis the menace is still alive and kicking. he is very funny and i read about him first thing in the morning paper. i do agree that boys are better cooks though hi hi. i am glad that your son is helping you. you need to train kids from a young age. good luck. love to H.

Hi, no, I wasn't concerned at all, I raised this as a matter of amusement as of course he can't get away with saying such things as every time I remind him I'm a girl too. He definitely won't back down on the driving thing though, whilst he concedes that I am a good and safe driver I just don't drive as well as the boys as they have SPEED. There's really not a lot one can do to change that view except refuse to lend him the car when he's old enough to speed along himself.

Hi Opal, I don't see it as trouble now just more of an amusement. I know not a thing about boys in their early teens though as went to an all girls school, so boys were mysterious creatures and if one walked past the school a whole classroom of girls were at the window to look. Here they'll all go from same primary school to the same secondary school so will have known each other since they were four. I must say that the Greek teenage boys don't fit the sterotype though as are quite mature or at least very respectful, they have to be or one of the village Grandmas would be giving them a clout round the ears.

Hi Khushi, I wouldn't go so far as to say they hate each other, I think it's more a case of avoiding been seen in the company of the other if in groups but they get on well if no one is around to see them.

Hi Karen, of course it's normal and it amuses me that almost all of the girls in class are much taller than the boys as yet, and so much less rowdy, and the girls seem more into their little crushes already whilst the boys really don't see the girls like that yet. I hope they manage to hang on until they are 18 in that way.

Hi shibham, it certainly sounds universal and the girls think it just as much as the boys do, that the girls are better I mean. The girls show more sense as they will butter the boys up by assuring them of course boys are better when they need something doing which could be heavy or dirty.

Hi Mjay, that was my thinking too, I'd have loved to have a big brother. Mind you most of the little boys I know would rather have a brother, especially if they have sisters, who can't kick a ball properly and play with dolls. I've concluded actually that it's the girls who group off first as are the ones most likely to develop best friends first, around the age of about 7, before that they all played together, but girls must realise earlier that boys aren't as funny as they think tthey are, as girls have already outgrown the toilet jokes. Thinking of it too, I bought a set of fun poetry books for my son from the UK and they empahsise the difference too, about girls being snotty from crying etc and not wanting to try to eat raw worms and the like. Perhaps the literature is also influential.