Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

I believe girls are born intuitive. They see the world in shades of gray, as it were, whereas boys tend to see the world in black and white. There are all kinds of books about the fact that men and women think completely differently; the male brain is typically more logical and thinks linearly from point A to point B, etc, whereas the female is more emotional and her thoughts are more of a web. She usually comes up with the right answer, but cannot always tell you how she arrived there. When it comes to relationships, this causes women to be more interested in face-to-face relationships where they discuss feelings, whereas boys like to DO activities together and have no desire to discuss feelings. This truth was demonstrated to me as clear as day yesterday.

I was in the basement on the treadmill while my daughter, my niece, and their friend were playing. Later on, my daughter came up to me and said, "Were you mad at me in the basement, because every time you looked at me, your eyes seemed angry?"

Now, I had been annoyed because my treadmill time is usually my time for me to be alone with my thoughts, or listen to music I want to listen to, or watch detective shows on TV that I can't watch when there are children around. But I didn't want the kids to know that, so how did she know?

But it didn't stop there. Later in the car, my daughter and my niece were talking.

Niece: "Are you mad at me?"

Daughter: "I thought you were mad at me."

Niece: "No, I was just mad at myself because I didn't know what to do."

Daughter: "You acted like you were mad at me."

Niece: "So did you get mad at me because you thought I was mad at you?"

Daughter: "Well, a little bit. I just didn't understand."

Niece: "But I didn't know which way to go on the pillow-path! I wasn't trying to keep Kylie from being able to have her turn!"

Daughter: "Were you a little mad at me then?"

Niece: "Well, a little."

Daughter: "I was too, but I'm not mad now."

Niece: "But how did you feel when you were mad at me?"

Daughter: "I was just a little sad, but I'm happy now."

Niece: "But when we played that game, I didn't mean to keep Kylie from having a turn."

And the conversation continued in that manner for a good ten minutes. Now here's how I imagine that conversation between a 9 and 10 year boy would go:

Ten year old boy: "Did you see me pass Tommy up?"

Nine year old boy: "Yeah. You made sure no one could beat you."

Ten year old: "Well he wasn't fast enough, so I passed him and beat you both in a shut-out."

Nine year old: "Next time, you're going down."

Ten year old: "Hahahaha!"