Linnor:

Our conversation with Matthew last Sunday was something out of the ordinary. For quite some time, I''ve been trying to gain his trust to tell me what's going on in his 9 year old mind. I guess I was able to do just that and pick his brain when we began talking about school stuff. The topics ranged from his peers, the things they talk about, their "plans", and how they deal with girls. Yup, gurlz! When he asked: "Why do girls always spray colognes after lunch?", this started the ball rolling. We gave him a few pointers such as: "Don't hurt others' feelings especially girls'.","Don't play rough with girls", "Girls are different from boys, treat them nicely." etc., etc. To these he retorted: "Why are there so many rules?". Gently we tried to tell him that these were not rules but practical tips to help him deal with his girl classmates. It was amusing the way he raised his concerns as if girls really confused him that much. Maybe they did...Bottomline is, we gave him assurance that Papa could always give him advise on the "hows" and if he wanted to know the reasons girls behaved the way they do, I could give him answers to his "whys"...