boys are like dogs?!!

[waitingforsomething]

Text a mum friend today who had a 2 DS one the same age as my dd (3) to see if they wanted to pop over for a play. She text me back to say she thought she would go to the playground because 'boys are like dogs and need to run'. I said Dd loves and needs a run around too (true) but it was Raining...she then said I didn't understand because Dd is a girl and she doesn't need it and I don't know how hard it is to have boys only. I am so lucky that DD will so quiet stuff sometimes and I will apparently understand when my DS learns to walk....
Aibu to think she's being a bit silly? Are boys really so different to girls? She is right that my DS is still a baby so perhaps I don't know but as far as I can tell all young children need a good airing....for some reason I'm dwelling on this and not sure why ...

*bollocks

Sorry some crossed posts there.

I second the 'all kids are like dogs'. Many are like particularly hyper monkeys too. Or honey badgers.

My friend had a live wire boy after having a fairly chilled out girl (from birth; her DD slept 20/24 hrs and used to sleep until 10am if given the choice). She said that she thought it was a gender thing - until she met my DD. Who is just as physical and needs just as much exercising as her DS does. But we never had any expectations of DD, we just went with what she seemed to need. It's a personality thing, I think.

It's a lazy stereotype and sexist to boot. My DD needs to burn off as much energy as DS2 but DS1 less than the others. It's very individual and more down to them being children than their sex.
I was driven mad the other day by a similar issue a women - everything was 'it must be a boy thing' about traits my DD also share (as did I).

Abbieanders has it spot on

Parenting beyond pink and blue is a very interesting book. It's American, but the woman who wrote it studied the meta data from lots of studies and there are no discernible differences for most things.
Also, delusions of gender is another interesting read.

I was absolutely not offended that she didn't come over btw- just a suggestion as I know she's about on a Tuesday. I just hate the way she assumes my DD sits around doing colouring; I wish! She has a particular interest in Jigsaws and will do these but that is all she will do for long periods and I cannot stay in with her all day without wanting to scream!
It just seems insane that people think a small boy is built differently to a small girl in that they need to run more. there is surely no biological proof to back this up.
Ive been keeping a little log for a couple of years about every time my dd has been the subject of accidental or purposeful gender stereotyping and I'll do the same for DS. Makes for interesting reading...

Thanks thebooks will look those up.

Ive been keeping a little log for a couple of years about every time my dd has been the subject of accidental or purposeful gender stereotyping

You need a hobby.

Well, she's making generalizations that aren't quite true. All children need to run off their energy and get fresh air and exercise. I think her lecture was over the top and not accurate.

I admit that I sometimes agree in my mind with generalizations about boys and girls from my own experience with my son. It does seem to me that ds's friends and schoolmates who are girls are a bit more able (at this age-10) to focus, are a bit more diligent with what is expected of them at home and at school, more aware of how not to get in trouble! (smart enough not to get caught by the teacher!).

Ive got lots thanks former- it takes a couple of minutes a week and I am interested to see its results in several years. Not that I asked for your opinion.

JessicasRabbit I can see why you think that the stereotypical girl followed by a stereotypical boys supports the conditioning theory. If the parents I'm thinking of commented on the difference in a way that suggested that it was what they would have expected then I'd agree with you.

But I've had parents who had an "easy" daughter first who assumed that their second child - a boy - would behave in the same way, have a similar temperament etc. They were taken aback by how different the son was, and found it very tiring. To me, that suggests that innate differences play a part.
The chimp article that I linked to in my other post supports this.

That's not to say that expectations and conditioning don't play a part, but I do think that differences are down to nature as well as nurture.

I have 2 girls who need walking twice a day. Yanbu

I have to say I agree with pp, I think what children need or do or like is more a personality thing than a gender issue.

Individual boys differ from each other just as much as they do to girls, IMO

One of my boys needed to let off a lot of steam, one did not.

Individual differences

I think boys are like dogs , or at least mine is , in that he drools , eats stuff from the floor , wee's standing up and in the garden , likes digging and dead stuff . However DD also eats stuff from the floor , although is now slightly more discerning as a teenager , will wee outside if caught short in the middle of the countryside , still likes a spot of digging and mud pie making as long as there are no boys of a similar age present , so I would say girl's are like dogs too , but slightly better trained ( eventually )

cariadlet

Birth order can explain some of that too. The experience of being a first child is very different from being a second child

Having two of one sex makes you realise that differences in temperament that you might have been tempted to ascribe to gender are not due to gender at all.

Either that or my DS1 is a girl....

I thought this was about BALD too!

(Where is she? What is her posting name now?)

Cariadlet I find it interesting that the sex of the child is what you (and these parents) assume is the reason for the difference, rather than just normal individual differences.

I am sure boys and girls are different, in exactly the same way as men and women are different, dogs and bitches are different, and mares and geldings (or stallions) are different. But:

1. these are generalisations, and
2. IME people with boys use this as an excuse when their DSs are naughty (instead of stopping them form being naughty)...and that is also a generalisation so apologies to those DPs to whom it doesn't apply!

Narp my oldest dd is the really lively one. She still needs walking at nearly 7, or she just jumps around. We laugh about her best friend at school, how she learnt to sit perfectly still and if I have somehow failed her...

Fourkids how is being lively naughty jeepers.

and what Narp said - IME and IMO experience people jump to conclusions about gender when it's really about the individual child, or their birth order, or their environment, or their upbringing.

Hah! I came here looking for BALD too.