Girl Sleepovers vs. Boy Sleepovers

My son Josh has a very active social life. His older sister hadn’t reached his level of sociability until she was a senior in high school. But every child is different, and although he’s only in his junior year, his social calendar doth overflow with abundance.

Now, I’ve become aware that when boys hang out together, it’s a very different experience than when girls hang out together. Where girls like to giggle and talk, boys like to shoot each other.

I became aware of this during one evening event when my son and some of his friends, armed with Airsoft guns, came clambering upstairs from their basement sanctuary to head outside because one of the boys had volunteered to be the target.

“What?! Wait a minute, you can’t shoot those guns at people!” I cried.

“Don’t worry, mom. Ronnie wants to get shot at.” My son patiently explained.

I turned to Ronnie. “Ronald, you’re a smart kid. Don’t you think letting people shoot at you is not the wisest choice?”

Ronnie grinned. “Well, Mrs. Bowne. There’s a part of me that thinks it’s not wise. But then, there’s this bigger 16-year-old boy part of me that thinks it sounds really fun.”

Oi!

Over the Christmas break, aside from hanging out with his friends nearly every day, my social boy participated in multiple sleepovers. Growing up, I don’t recall my brothers ever having sleepovers—back then it was more of a “girl” thing—but no more.

And now, after hosting more than a few of them, I figured I’d share some of the interesting differences I’ve noticed between Girl Sleepovers and Boy Sleepovers.

Girl Sleepovers – Mom goes into the basement to replenish snacks and drinks to discover girls snuggled under blankets, talking, giggling and/or watching movies.

Boy Sleepovers – Mom goes into the basement to replenish snacks and drinks to discover a few boys using the padded exercise mat as a protective fortress against the other boys who are intently shooting (airsoft guns again!) at them from across the room…INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Girl Sleepovers – “Mom, can we borrow your makeup kit and nail polish to play with?

Boy Sleepovers – “Dad, can we borrow your throwing knives to play with?”

Girl Sleepovers – Girls drive to Blockbuster to rent popular chick flicks such as P.S. I Love You, The Proposal, or The Princess Bride. Then stay up all night watching them.

Boy Sleepovers – Boys Drive to Best Buy to catch the midnight sale of Modern Warfare 3. Then stay up all night doing battle against evil forces.

Girl Sleepovers – “Mom, we’re going to take the family bikes and go for a bike ride to the ice cream stand.”

Boy Sleepovers – “Mom, we’re going to take apart one of the family bikes to see how it works.”

Girl Sleepovers – “Mom, can we bake brownies?

Boy Sleepovers – “Mom, we ate the entire pan of brownies and the three dozen cookies you made. Is there anything else to eat?”

Teen sleepovers…you gotta love ‘em!




Image by: Oakley Originals