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 ...

There is no way in hell that socialisation could calm her down. I don't believe that.

Oh, OK, jesabel. I didn't realise you knew me and dh and how we'd been bringing up our dc.

Are you and your dh magically exempt from 'your belief and society's very strong belief'? Don;'t be daft. Or patronising.

My DD certainly didn't get the memo! She loves to run and climb in all weathers, the muddier the better!

Sellisx my dd is 8 and there is no way on earth she could sit still for half an hour. The school have lots of strategies to get a few minutes out of her at a time. She is allowed outside a lot. There are no boys in the class allowed this as they all just sit there.

I think it's a lazy damaging stereotype that shouldn't be encouraged or pandered to. All the boys and girls that I know that are around my sons age (3.5) are all different. I can't see any pattern in physicality between them based on gender. I was watching my DS take part in a sports class today, equal numbers of boys and girls, all taking part in similar ways - not based on gender. Where are these significant and substantial differences that fatrascal is convinced by?

Of course not, how can anyone be "exempt"?

I wonder if mums who think like this are the quiet and meek type. Dd has diagnosed adhd and autism. I have no diagnosis but I am hyper all day and always have been. Dh sits and can watch a whole film or even play on the playstation whereas us girls couldn't sit that long. I often envy how long he can sit.

But there is a difference between boys and girls, and I think it can be detected in the brain even before they're born. Boys develop gross motor skills sooner than girls although their overall brain development is slower - hence they sometimes find it more difficult to sit still.

I have a boy, a girl and dogs. Dogs sleep about 20 hours per day. My children are definitely nothing like dogs.

It can't be testosterone that does it though Elisheva, else how would you explain hyperactive girls?

Actually it looks like there isn't really such a thing as "male" and "female" brains www.techinsider.io/gender-brain-differences-2015-11

I have googled and haven't found anything that says boys have more physical energy than girls - could you point me to a link Fatrascals?

Your friend is of course talking bollocks.

I think there is some truth in the old saying "boys wreck your house while girls wreck your head".

No, but testosterone is not the only hormonal difference between boys and girls. There is a balance of different hormones at work, and in different quantities during different stages of development. One of the things that the sex hormones seem to influence is which areas of the brain develop at which times.

I've only read the first page, but my dc conform to the stereotype.
Two girls, both happiest playing quietly with dolls/any figure. Love drawing/colouring/writing/reading. No need whatsoever to run around outside, though I do make them occasionally.

Yeah but Fatrascals it can't be just testosterone that causes it. Dd and I are very girly looking and I have massive boobs/feminine features. There has to be more to it.

Ive said this on another thread.

I did laugh once when I took DD to a football class age 5, to burn off some energy. She hated it- all the little boys stood nicely, waited their turn, did all the drills and exercises while she ran round like a whirlwind. It was all too slow for her. All the parents giving me the stink eye while saying how much energy boys had for football, their girls all preferred craft and sitting nicely, girls are so much easier...

I agree its expectation, and confirmational bias. You notice girls sitting nicely and boys running round, less so the other way round as it doesnt confirm your ideas.

I have known four boys well from early childhood. different families, socio economic groups, two different cultures. each boy was obsessed with wheels and things with wheels.
Re boys running about so much, when apparently they have no more muscle mass or testosterone or obvious physical need to than girls (in general).. Could they be 'play rehearsing' for their expected roles in the 'natural world' when testosterone does kick in.
stereotypes arise because over generations people notice and learn to count on as a "short cut" certain general characteristics, And isn't there something called The Wisdom of Crowds?

Surely male and female are supposed to be different, why bother with two completely different sexes if they are pretty much the same thing. Men and women bring different things to the party. surely these differences, not just sperm and egg provision, wouldn't just kick in suddenly out of nowhere at puberty?

fatrascals if you're not in agreement that it's lazy and damaging then I suggest you google to find some explanations.

Or alternatively I'll explain myself, it's lazy because it is a sweeping generalisation that ignores the individual characteristics of each child. It's damaging to boys because it's used as an excuse for poor behaviour, and encourages the idea that boys can't/won't/aren't able to concentrate, sit still etc.

Not read anything other than the OP!

In my opinion, all young children need fresh air in equal measure!

Those who don't get it do not wither and die though!

Neither do they fail at school because the parents do not run them around!

Girls and boys are pretty much the same in all 0f this!

But culture your insurance that it's purely nurture with no nature involved is also damaging to boys who can't yet sit still and who are then labelled as naughty/disruptive because, after all, they're no different to the girls.