<p>LOL, Cheers -- from one boy-mom to another, you've got it down! In fact, S2's first word was, "Truck." I really think at times that both boys would cheerfully have traded in private HS and college for a Lamborghini or Ferrari. As far as guns go, I was one of the idealistic young mothers who was determined to avoid all war play. But at the ripe old age of 2 1/4, S1 was making guns out of legos, so I just gave up -- insisted on toy guns that actually looked like toys, though.</p>
<p>Haha. Yes, Pahse II probably starts with walking and talking to other boys. 18 months is probably more accurate--earlier if you have an older brother?</p>
<p>S1's first word was 'bus'. </p>
<p>As we were living in New York City, Phase I was right at stroller level every time we left the apartment--and he loved it. His fifth or sixth word was "moe-gee-gye-kee-gull'. </p>
<p>Like a woman who wasn't working in construction and didn't have four brothers, I stuck to the Banned Toy Weapons policy. Nevermind, the boys had a cache of lego weapons, sticks, cleaning tools and found junk weapons. They spent hours building amazing lego castles only to have cross-the-hall lego wars. </p>
<p>Reminds me of a simliar effort of mine. No TV or videos before the age of 12, <em>picture cheers patting herself on the back with a very smug smile on her face</em>. My boys...the lovely little uncorrupted readers. Hah! They were both seriously addicted to the computer ages 12 to 18.</p>
<p>I too gave up on banning weapons, but truthfully the only guns they ever wanted were water pistols. They made weapons out of any and every thing they found, including paper towel cores, vacuum cleaner attachments, and my all time favorite tampons! Just the right size to stick in a little pocket.</p>
<p>over30 - reminds me of my friend's twin boys who fashioned ear muffs out of Kotex. I've forgotten the details of how they affixed them, but they managed! :p</p>
<p>I'm not sure how to categorize this in Cheers male developmental continuum: Midlife fascination with World's Most Amazing Police Videos on Spike TV. Has emerged in an otherwise not-ball obsessed, non-violent husband who opposed having the Ninja Turtles enter our house and felt I caved into Sesame Street too often (He of course wasn't home in the pre-dinner hour...) Now he considers it the acme of reasonableness to have my son (now 18) join in him in watching police from around the world chase and shoot a wild assortment of individuals who have come into the media eye of law enforcement. Is this a separate late-life stage or or some amalgam of Cheers earlier categories....</p>
<p>Larry Summers was dis'd for stinkin thinkin on gender predisposition. Bang!</p>
<p>The TAMPAX-as-a-lethal-weapon phase can last a while. When I was in college at Cal (back in the Dark Ages), there was a guy who used to hide in one of the big urns next to Sather Gate. He would hurl Tampaxes at unsuspecting students as an anti-war statement. They made surprisingly good missiles for low altitude launches, and the little strings had a nice effect, like vapor trails or rocket tracers. :)</p>
<p>Two-yr old Ds discovered that they make darn good finger jackets and miniature telescopes, too. That is until I came thundering toward him from the hallway, doing the Supermom stretchy-arms thing, screaming, ICKEE-POOOO!! They're really a miracle of modern engineering, and that's why toddlers have radar for finding them in bathroom wastebaskets. If the cardboard box can make it to the Toy Hall of Fame, so can a humble box of Tampax Super-Plus. :)</p>
<p>mmaah, That's a continium of Phases I and II--Vehicles combined with Military. As for his earlier Ninja stance, perhaps mums weren't alone in thinking we could rewire mankind?</p>
<p>I called Larry before I made these blanket generalizations. Where we differ, is in my belief that both genders 'learn' to subsume natural interests in favor of acceptable societal interests, including science. It is possible for adult human beings to pursue an atypical interest to the nth degree. I am living proof as an architect.</p>
<p>For example, even with an highly spatial, high-conflict brain, I cannot muster a single "Woo hoo!" for Vehicles or Guns. However, I can go right over the top for sports events. That must be my 'learned' interest (helps me communicate with H and Ss and colleagues) as I never thought about discussing sports with gfs--though my mother does go on and on about her favorite baseball players and once scared the life out of one by backing up her powder blue Toyota Camry to try to catch him to say helllo. (He took off running).</p>
<p>I'll take it as a token of respect that you have elevated us to the level of a Harvard Neanderthal, Itsy. ;) Watch out for the Wookies in here. They have no sense of humor when it comes to Emeril impersonators.</p>
<p>Slugg, I hated to post this but for the greater good I will. My oldest taught himself to count using tampons. I think the crinkly wrapper was the enticement for him. (NOTE: He used ones straight from the box.) He would line them up like 'soldiers' in individual armies and of course they had to have an equal number of combatants. Eureka! He learned to count. My H was mortified.</p>
<p>Cheers, I am a big sports fan, both playing and watching. But I will never understand the fascination with cars. If it has air conditioning, a working radio and drives reliably I'm happy.</p>
<p>Cheers-
How right you are on all fronts! I tried to ban guns and gun-like objects when the oldest was small. It lasted about a minute and a half. Older s. promptly bit into a saltine cracker and chewed out a corner to make the remaining portion of the cracker into a gun-shaped object-- the perfect size for his little fingers.
And speaking of "size"-- well, all male species members have a distorted perception when it comes to evaluating the size of things. I shall leave it at that.</p>
<p>Last 2 developmental stages that are apparently skipped, deleted or otherwise removed from the male Y chromosome:</p>
<p>(1) Ability to close, put down, or put away anything If it has hinges or slides, it is likely to be left open (doors, refrigerators, cabinets, drawers) or up (the proverbial toilet seat, amongst others). Clothes, towels, belongings in general are deposited in the nearest spot of empty space on the floor. They then apparently have selective blindness, and cannot locate anything of relative importance (if it is not attached to their person), expecting the female family member to know the exact location of their lost/misplaced/carelessly dropped belonging.
(2) The defective shopping gene. Males appear to be able to tolerate shopping for a maximum of 20' at any one time. This is then followed by hours of grumpiness and generaly whining and complaining about the experience. That is, of course, if the shopping did not include a stop at the electronics/videogame store/dept. or the book/magazine section. If more than 20' has elapsed in any shopping expedition, look for lost or stolen males in these departments.</p>
<p>Almost forgot the never-ending but always evolving developmental stage-
Toys: Plays with self, food, boxes, and any general non-toy item. Then plays with the aforementioned categories (vehicles, self,weapons, self, balls, technical stuff, self, etc). The cost of the toys increase in a linear, if not asymptotic fashion with age, and may have a zero or inverse correlation with the ability to afford such toys.</p>
<p>jym, the 'selective blindness' comment reminded me of Roseanne Barr's take on this. "Husbands think we should know where everything is -- like the uterus is a tracking device. He asks me, "Roseanne, do we have an Chee-tos left?" Like he can't go over to that sofa cushion and lift it himself."</p>
<p>Friends and H and I were at dinner yesterday. "My flash drive has 1 gig," said one of the males. "Mine has 2," countered the other. The two females just rolled their eyes. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Well, marite -we can guess who wins that competion (until man1 goes out to upgrade to 3 gigs). The complicated qx is who's ahead if man 1 has the 4 gig flash drive but man2 has the 62" plasma TV. </p>
<p>Of course, I guess they wouldn't worry about that - they'd just go out and get both. :p</p>
<p>over30-
Great line! The chair closest to the TV in our family room is the favorite of all the males in the family, as it rocks, swivels and the TV buttons are within kicking distance when they cannot or will not locate the remote control. They can live for a week and pay their bills for a month (see cost of "toys" in previous post) from the popcorn, potato chips, and loose change below their butts under the seat cushion.</p>
<p>And marite/jmmom-
The progression of the "size is everything" belief system in the male species..... Except when it comes to cars- there seems to be an inverse relationship at times-- if it is a vehicle meant to transport the aforementioned "toys", family or work associates, bigger may be better. If it is meant to transport the male's butt, boss and/or a bag of golfclubs, the smaller the sportscar the better, as long as it maintains that symbolic phallic shape.</p>
<p>Almost forgot, over30-
If my s lifts up the chair cushion to look for the remote, he leaves the cushion up! :eek: Doesn't even have to have a hinge to be left in the upright position! Hrmmmph.</p>
<p>Jym:</p>
<p>You got it about cars. I know a couple who got divorced in their mid 50s. He left her the Jeep (they'd liked camping when things were better) and bought himself a red Miata. He had to ship all his belongings cross country because the car could barely accommodate his suitcase.</p>
<p>Hey, has it degenerated into man bashing in here? I live with three women and work with six (I'm the only male). Let me know when it's safe to come back here (about a week, perhaps?).</p>