Boys and Girls

Sunday, we had the pleasure of having breakfast cooked for us by a world-famous chef. Hey, how many people can say that?

We’d gone to see a friend of The Prettiest-girl-in-the-world, someone she’d met at a mommy’s group. Her husband was the head chef at the Empress, and they had 2 children, almost exactly the same age as the boys.

Only problem?

Their 2 children were girls.

And girls are such strange creatures.

The boys were NOT looking forward to this! Even when we told them there would be waffles.

Me, I’d crawl through broken glass or watch the Phantom Menace, again, for some waffles. Ok, probably not the Phantom Menace, but you feel me, right? I like waffles!

The food was, perhaps not surprisingly, magnificent. The Prettiest-girl-in-the-world fell in love with clotted cream. I fell in love with the fruit compote the chef had made. OMG good! The boys ate their weight in bacon. It was the best breakfast we’d had in a long time.

The boys were great at the table, managing not to throw anything at each other, not to show anyone what they’d chewed in their mouths, and did not make a single farting noise, real or creatively made.

However, I don’t think they understood what an amazing meal that had been made for them. I wonder when you come to realize such things? Maybe some people never do.

But we were thankful.

After breakfast, though, the boys had a big challenge. They had to deal with girls.

Girls, it seems, giggle a lot, like to do things together, like group things, and, if I am to believe the stories the boys told afterwards, like to chase them around.

The Oldest did his best to be social, which for him, with girls, usually involves a lot of grunting and going all red-faced. But here is the conversation between the oldest girl and The Oldest (Boy).

TOB: So, uhm, do you, you know, like Adventure Time? (Guy translation – I only want to talk about my stuff.)

TOG: No. (Translation – No, can’t you see I’m standing by my super amazing Harry Potter Lego collection. Why don’t you ask me about that?)

TOB: Oh. (Translation- I’m going to think about Adventure Time on my own, then.)

TOG: Do you like Harry Potter? (Translation – maybe this is something we can both discuss cuz I know you like Lego.)

TOB: No. (Translation – What did you just say, I was off in my own little world?)

TOG: Oh. (Translation – OMG boys are dumb.)

*cue the sound of crickets*

For a long, long, long time.

I’m sure we’ve all had dates like that. With adults, you can either order wine or start checking out your facebook notifications. Both will work depending on what you want to the outcome to be. But with those two oldest children, they had to figure out what to do next. It was like watching two star trek races struggling to find a common language without a universal translator.

Personally, I don’t know why The Oldest says he doesn’t like Harry Potter, especially since he’s not read any of the books (and only seen ½ of the first movie).  It’s a great story and I hope one day he’ll give it a try. But today was NOT that day.

The oldest girl tried very hard to interest him in any thing Potterish, but she he wasn’t having any of it. She sighed a lot as I remember, but didn’t give up. The two girls did their best to make the boys feel welcome.

Left on their own, the boys would have gone all electronically-feral, curled up on a couch in the dark, fingering their portable game players and growling at anyone coming near them. The girls forced them to do more social things like playing games that included everyone. Like card games and bouncing together on the trampoline. I suspect they even offered to sit and read together. Or play with the Harry Potter Lego.

No interest from the boys, though.

Still, it was good for them to have to interact with an alien species. It’s something they’re going to have to figure out how to do at some point. I think The Youngest will rely on his smile and blue-blue eyes a lot as he gets older. Already little girls (like ones that can barely walk) stop in their tracks and stare at him. The Oldest, however, has adopted an aura of aloofness, but he has to be careful with that. Done too much, it seems like he’s being a jerk and he’s not. He’s just not sure that to do.

He needs a manual.

Hell, all guys do.

Despite the differences, they got along well enough. Not quite cats and dogs. More like bulldogs and jack russels. Which is which is up to interpretation.

I loved meeting the little girls, though. They were kind, considerate and wonderfully polite.  In my mind, all little girls are like that.

As for adult time, it was wonderful. All of the Prettiest-girl-in-the-world’s friends have been very kind to me and these folks were no exception. They fed us like we were royalty, they laughed with us, and they made us feel welcome. It felt like I’d known them for years.

It was a real pleasure.

The only problem? We’ll be back!!!!