The Difference Between Boys and Girls

I was thinking back to my time working in the day care, and I remembered an incident that made me both reflect and laugh out loud all at once.

I with two other adults was supervising about fifty elementary age kids on the day care playground one day. Suddenly, three girls came running up to me, all upset. After about five or ten minutes, I was able to sort out that someone was hit by someone else's shoe. One girl was angry because she thought a friend threw a shoe at her. Another girl was hurt because she said she didn't throw it, it fell off when she was on the swings. Other girls gathered around and took sides. A few girls chimed in who didn't even see the incident. They "cliqued up" as naturally as breathing. It literally became sister against sister, friend against friend.

After about fifteen minutes or so of trying to sort this out, two boys ran by and this conversation took place:

Boy 1: "He hit me!"

Me: "Say you're sorry!"

Boy 2: "Sorry!"

That was it. They didn't even slow down from running.

After that, I probably spent another five minutes or so working with the girls before they were satisfied.

So what does this mean about the difference between boys and girls? I'm not sure. Maybe boys of that age let things roll off their back. Maybe they put having fun and friendship before their feelings. Maybe girls care so much about friendship that they will defend each other over the simplest offense. Maybe girls thrive on drama and boys don't. Maybe it's an isolated incident and doesn't mean anything about little boys and girls.

I just hope one day I'm blessed enough to raise both.