An all boys party

Several months ago Spouse informed me that #2's 4th birthday party was going to be with all boys. Spouse made baseball card invitations with #2's face superimposed over Kurt Wariner's body. He painted lines on our grass and set up a football goal standard. There was going to be nothing girly about this party.

And so 8 little boys came to our house yesterday to play soccer, baseball, football; break open a baseball pinata; and wrestle each other WWF style in our bounce house. I naively had planned fun little games involving the sports equipment. But 4 year old boys have no attention span, and resist being directed when they're interested in other things. After a while I just gave up and let them play. If I hadn't already been convinced, yesterday proved again how different girls and boys are.

For example, at a little girl's party the girls socialize and pretty much stick together as a group. They say please and thank you. They like organized games and can sit still for a number of minutes. However, little girls are fixated on order and fairness and who gets to sit where and by whom. And ultimately, someone's feelings get hurt and there are tears.

Compare that to a little boys party where the boys are happy to play by themselves and aren't very interested in what the others are doing. When there is a disagreement, the stronger one just rips whatever he wants from the little one and it's over. They aren't interested in rules and winning games. They just want to do what they want to do. Cleaniless and good manners are just things someone tells them to do and which they usually ignore.

You mothers of all girls may be smugly relieved you don't have to deal with the unknown - the masculine side of life - things like your almost four year old son exiting the bathroom in just his briefs with half of his privates squished out of one side saying "hey mom, look at this!" But little do you know how much you are missing of a boy's uncomplicated affection and easiness to please.

I think we could have thrown rocks at a wall for an hour and #2 would have been equally pleased with his party - providing there was cake and balloons of course. Next year I'll be wiser. Happy Birthday #2!