Girls Verses Boys

As a mother of 3 boys, I am simply more used to boys. I have a bias - I admit it. But as my daycare days are running at a 5 or 6 girls to 1 or 2 boy ratio, I'm feeling the stress of my inexperience with girls.

I have been on the receiving end of comments putting down 'boys' in general (due to their tendency to be more boisterous and loud). My boys were not your stereotypical 'boys' (at least not to me), so I really resented when someone lumped boys into one category and labelled them.

So it is not my intent to label boys and girls. I've had girls that are loud and boisterous. I've had boys that have high pitched voices and scream.

But on the whole, there is a difference.

There is a pitch of the voices that is quite different. As a person who is sensitive to noise, this higher tone feels like how a dog whistle must feel to a dog. It's hard to ignore. I've had a yard full of boys that have had voices so loud, that I think they could be heard from a block away. I'm almost certain that I could hear one of these boy's voices from my house (one block away from the school) at recess time. That was also an affront to my senses (and my neighbors, I'm sure).

The other noticeable difference is how they deal with their anger and frustration. Mind you, this changes with each sex as they get older too. The younger they are, the more they immediately retaliate or visibly make their anger known. They blow off steam, get it out of their system and carry on as if nothing happened. As they get older, they are more aware of the ramifications of their actions and they may do something sneaky to get back at someone. Or else they will hold onto the anger and not let it go.

Girls have a reputation of playing mind games ... boys have a reputation of duking it out and then not hold any grudges. I've seen examples of both of those qualities - especially as they get older.

In this recent mix of personalities which is very girl-dominant, I am struggling. There have been times when it has been exactly the opposite - the boys outnumber the girls by far. I don't recall having the same trouble coping. The challenges were different ... but there were still challenges.

As I go through the days and have become rather climatized to the girl dominated scene that run our days, I'm getting accustomed to it. But when it boils right down to the one difference that wears me down the most ... it would be the pitch. Boys may be louder but the girls voices are in the dog whistle range to me.

Everyone's tolerance for differing personalities and behaviours is different. I'm very sensitive to noise, so for me it is all in the noise levels.

No scientific findings. But yes ... there is a difference between the 2 sexes. I'm just more accustomed to boys.