Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Holes

I need a little help with a certain observation I have made.

I am just going to come out and say it. My boys love holes. The second one of my boys discovers a hole, not matter what the size, shape or type they immediately have to fill it by shoving something in it.

I'm pretty observant of my kids and how they play. I am very observant about what they find interesting and fascinating. My boys have always been captivated by holes. If they find a hole in the backyard they have to prod it with a stick. If they see an opening in the bottom of a clay planter they have to stuff it with leaves. If they find a depression in the wall where there once was a nail, they instantly have to stuff Wolverine's claws in there. They are constantly sticking things in holes.

When my boys play and interact with other kids I try to watch and see if the other kids behave the same way my kids do. I have 10, or so, nieces and nephews that Max and Wyatt see and play with on a regular basis. My kids also get together with various friends through out the week. Sure some kids prefer sports over action figures and there are differences from how girls and boys play, but for most I am always on the lookout to make sure my kids do the same things that other kids do; that my kids are not weird.

So far, I have noticed that my kids are not weird when it comes to holes.

My observation, the one I need help with, is this: All boys love holes and have to stick stuff in them. Girls not so much.

Please let me know your thoughts. Am I off base with this? Do you agree? Is it the Y Chromosome? Or is it just that my boys are weird?

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm going to resist the urge to go Freudian in my comment.

I've got all boys, and yours sound normal to me.

Anonymous said...

So boys like to stick things in holes...That's what she said!

Michelle said...

I have girls & they do NOT stick things in holes so I'm going with a Y chromosome thing.

Theresa said...

I'm afraid to even touch this one! But I will say, I have 4 girls, the 2 teenagers followed around by lost puppy dog boys with the same longing.

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of an observation a friend of mine did one time while sitting outside a gas station for about an hour or so:

For the most part, the women would pull up, pump their gas, replace the nozzle, and be on their merry way. The men, almost without exception, would pull up, pump their gas, but before they replaced the nozzle, they would give it a little "jiggle" to shake off the excess drips before finishing.

James said...

Holes exist to be filled. Your boys are bringing balance to the universe.

Either that, or my boys are weird too.

Giddy said...

My girls like to fill holes too--but I only know this because of what I find in holes, and not because I've watched them do it. Based on that, I think the difference between boys and girls is not the interest in holes, but perhaps more that boys don't care who sees....

Sharfa said...

Male genetic trait.

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah said...

Holes and balls. It is all nature. Helps with progeneration.

joanna said...

Wow. I can't believe you just said that, but maybe I can. Weird I was kind of thinking about this topic recently. In sports every guy is trying to put a ball in a hole, of sorts. Go fig.
I LOVE what your wife said -- hilarious observation!!

Mrs. M said...

I think it's pretty normal, and as a baby my son likes anything he can put stuff in and take stuff back out of!

FilmFather said...

Yes, boys love sticking things in holes (cue Beavis and Butthead snickering).

This past weekend, my boys and I found a nickel-wide hole in our backyard. Immediately, my older boy (age 6) grabs a stick and says, "Let's push this in the hole. There might be a snake in there."

My convoluted, illogical response: "If there's a snake in that hole, you're not shoving a stick in there. Here, let me do it."

Bogart said...

*sniker* *sniker* *sniker*

Glad I am not the only one who had that reaction!

Anonymous said...

Your boys get that from the viper.

for a different kind of girl said...

My boys are weird then, too. I think they get it from their dad, who seems to be perpetually armed with a caulking gun loaded for when he sees holes. Here's where I should probably stop talking now, too.

Unknown said...

William, My son dug a hole and then slid our play house over it and inticed his sister to go inside. I couldn't find her all day! It's definitly a boy thing! Our train - so funny! The rail bed is parallel with the TOP of our fence. It slowly rumbles by to pick up HAZZARDOUS waist from the paint factory that is also hidden by the fence. Clueless, clueless, clueless! William, I hope you write a parenting book or go on tour as a stand up comedian! Fun, fun, stories!

James (SeattleDad) said...

Mine loved putting rocks in water-main holes from the time he could walk. Forget everything else, give me a rock and a hole and call it good.

Melinda said...

Wonderful observation!
My daughter was curious about everything. I called it the, "I wonder what would happen if I did this, or this. Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if I do this differently something else would happen?"
She is a physicist now. It all seems to make sense when I look back. She wasn't normal. I think she was one of the 'weird' girls.

When I watch children play, I have observed how boys like to dig. They will dig happily for hours. Boys tend to like to destroy or blow up something they have just made. Girls like to make stuff and cry when the boys destroy or blow it all up.

Mwa said...

My kids (boy + girl) are mainly interested in their own holes. Always picking their noses, putting thumbs in their mouths, prodding their belly buttons... You see where this is going.

They're too busy with their own holes to care about other ones.

teri said...

LMAO!

I think you know what I will say about boys and holes. That is all.

Anonymous said...

Yes, boys love filling holes.

Fillin' holes....

....and carrying sticks.

The bigger, the better. (The sticks, I mean.)

Patience said...

Boys are weird.

No matter how old they are.

Anonymous said...

Mama don't take my chromosome away.

dwayne said...

i'm a boy, i like holes...and i'm not talking in a sexual way...well, i do like that too...but, even to this day, send me to the beach, i get bored and start digging holes...fascinated with what my dogs are digging for in the back yard...love doing yard work that involves digging holes for posts, etc...i do find myself sticking my fingers in things too...you might be on your way to some nobel prize winning study here.

Lowa said...

Ok my daughter must be weird because she HELPS her brothers fill in the holes. She digs them, pokes at things, etc etc. It is a curiosity thing, I think. I have also been around kids all my life and had numerous foster siblings and I didn't really notice boys filling holes anymore than girls.

I DO notice that boys have their hands down their pants A LOT...I often ask my boys if they think it is going to fall off or something?? They don't seem to like that very much! But seriously!?!? What is with that?? I don't walk around hanging onto my boobs all day.

Oh also...I must be weird like my daughter. I ALWAYS shake off the gas nozzle when I pump gas. It makes sense, why would I want it dribbling all over??

Michelle said...

I think it's a chromosome thing. And girls who have a brother end up being interested by default - if her brother is interested, she'll check it out too.

Anonymous said...

My little boy is, too...never knew it was Y-linked. :) He puts his fingers in holes.

JennyMac said...

You open the door for oh so many witty comments. :) haha. And I think yes, boys like holes...in a much different way than girls.

Wendy said...

i think this question is best answered by yourself....you're a boy, you like to stick things in holes, no? somethings are inherent. i have three boys, and holes are their friends!!

mamabrown said...

Must be the Y-chromosome. My three brothers loved to put items in holes...(din't say things). Lots of different items in holes...from marbles to spit wads. Also, blowing up whatever stood upright more than 2 inches off the ground (as long as they could get away with it)...I observed my older brother from the safety of my treehouse (which was off limits to TNT or whatever else he and his friends could invent). I never wanted to be too close to whatever the boys were doing when they were up to either "hole investigations" or other mischief. We lived in a desert climate so there were many, many opportunites for poking a stick or sword or spoon into a hole - many times a tarantula would emerge much to their delight.

Kristin said...

My girls are obsessed with the opposite - making holes. Since moving into our house in May, we have filled 3 girl-made holes, even covering them with stones to prevent re-excavation, only to find that they moved locations and are working on digging out 2 more holes in the backyard. They are 3 and 1 years old.