Yesterday while I was digging this 6x6 foot trench in front of our house to fix a crack in our foundation, Kian was being a great helper. He had a shovel and was helping me dig, as well as push dirt away from the trench so I could get more out without it falling back in. As the morning was turning into afternoon, neighbors and friends of the kids started appearing. One girl that visits her grandma came over. Of course the question "What are you digging for?" was asked by this girl. Questions were answered and she started playing with Kian. She so wants to help dig, but Kian has the second shovel and I was not going to stop digging. She asked Kian several times, and Kian answered, "No. This is a man's job". Now, I did not say that, nor would I say that to him or make him feel like there were boys jobs or girls jobs. I was not raised this way, and so this came out of no where, especially since Rhyetta helped me dig for a portion of the morning.
The things Kian says sometimes just shock us.
4 comments:
OOOOOKay. Where did THAT come from? Papa never told him that. Hmmmm. Who's corrupting my boy? :-)
Loves,
Mom
Gender differences are apparent no matter how neutrally you raise the kids--my friend and co-teacher years ago married a man with severe heart disease. She did the heavy work at home because her frail husband was weak and ill and just couldn't. One day their 3 year old son looked up and said, "Women are weak, and men are strong, right?"
The positive that I see in Kian's comment is that he was feeling powerful with being allowed to share in the experience and naturally identified himself with a man--his dad. I think it could have come out of his own "logical" conclusions... He's hilarious, BTW...
I agree, Judy. Even though Jim and I never delineated roles to male or female, the boys always went out with Dad to help. Then again, so did the girls. I don't know, but Kian is so innocent in many of his comments it does come off a bit funny.
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