Heaps of giggles

Not having raised boys, I had no first-hand experience until the title “Grandmother” was bestowed upon me. Twice within two years. Boys both times.

Some say the expectancy for boys to like traditional “boy” things and girls to like traditional “girl” things is early conveyed in family settings.

The fact remains that, for whatever reasons, boys play differently from girls. Things that turn girls off, send boys into gales of uncontrollable laughter.

Case in point: Walking home from school with my grandsons one fine spring day, I was embarrassed to pass some gas. It was a very small social faux pas, which I hoped had gone unnoticed. Not so. One grandson, with a grin of respect commented, “Grandma, that was awesome!”

This grandmother sighed deeply. “Of all the things I would like to be considered awesome for,” I replied, “That was not one of them.”

He danced with glee.

When it’s too cold to go out for recess, the boys come home full of unspent energy. After dinner last night, they invented a new game. You could call it belly-flopping down the stairs. It was nearly as good as the sledding they’d done the previous week-end. Up the stairs they skipped; down the stairs they thumped, head-first and single file, until they fell into a giggling puppy heap at the bottom.

For both boys and girls, I love the approach taken by religious author Mary Baker Eddy. Focusing on that purity Jesus loved, she defines, “CHILDREN. The spiritual thoughts and representatives of Life, Truth, and Love.”



This standard supports the best of their creativity, generosity, and (let's be sure to include) intelligence.