"Boys will be boys" is no excuse for bad behavior

"For months, every morning when my daughter was in preschool, I watched her construct an elaborate castle out of blocks, colorful plastic discs, bits of rope, ribbons, and feathers. Only to have the same little boy gleefully destroy it within seconds of its completion.

It was obvious that this little guy got massive joy out of doing this. The first time, my daughter just stared in amazement and I tried to help her rebuild. Second time: sad. Third time: The Injustice! "Why did he do that again?" Fourth time: Royally Pissed Girl wanted to know why his parent didn’t stop him. And what about me? Fifth time? She was ready and tried to block him.

During the course of this socialization exercise we tried several strategies and his parents engaged in conversation with us, but mostly me. One or the other of them would occasionally, always after the fact, smile and apologize as they whisked him away. Figuring out what they would say next became a fun game:

"You know! Boys will be boys!"

"He's just going through a phase!"

"He’s such a boy! He LOVES destroying things!"

"Oh my god! Girls and boys are SO different!"

"He. Just. Can't. Help himself!"

No matter how many times he did it, they never swooped in BEFORE the morning's live 3-D reenactment of "Invasion of AstroMonster.""

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http://www.rolereboot.org/family/details/2012-10-boys-will-be-boys-is-no-excuse-for-bad-behavior

VERY good blog post -- worth the time to click the link and read, as are the blog comments.