Don't Tell Me There's No Difference Between Girls And Boys

The other day I was driving my son to his football practice. He, my daughter and I were having a conversation about school. Our kids are homeschooled, so they don't suffer the same tragedies as public school kids, like having to spend so much time riding the bus. They admitted that while the bus ride did take too long, they didn't mind it all that much because it gave them an opportunity to socialize, which was something they were not allowed to do while in school.

One of the games the girls played routinely during the bus ride was "the daily theme." This was much like show and tell. Each day one of the girls would bring something she found exciting or interesting to show the other girls. The next day the other girls would reciprocate by bringing something to match. On Monday one girl might bring in a beenie baby; on Tuesday they would all bring beenie babies. Wednesday one might bring a scarf, so Thursday they'd all bring scarfs to show. My daughter tells me this went on for the entire year and covered subjects like barbies, sweaters, stuffed animals, string, foreign money, and a miriad of others.

I thought this sounded like a pretty danged good way to pass the long bus ride. When I was a kid I passed the time on the bus in total obscurity. But I was curious: that was what the girls did, but what about my son and the other boys on the bus?

Turning to The Boy, I asked "so how did you and the other boys amuse yourselves on the bus rides?"

He shrugged. "Mostly by burping and making fart noises."