Ashley and the Boys

Ashley's preschool class ends their day with playground time. So when I come to pick her up I get to see what she is doing and who she is playing with for just a minute when she doesn't know I'm watching. Ashley has always preferred playing with boys, which makes sense because they usually share interests like animals, dinosaurs, active play, and also because her best friend is her big brother. So, each day when I pick her up I see her playing and having a great time with the boys. A few girls are playing together in one area, and a few more in another area. I've seen Ashley play with the girls a handful of times and she does fine but, she still gravitates towards the boys. I like this about her, it's cute and funny too but, sometimes I've worried. 

Then, yesterday I learned a lesson. I picked her up and as usual she was having a great time playing with John. John's twin brother Luke was crying because he wanted to play with Ashley too but, she was only playing with John. Ashley said her goodbyes to a few of her boy buddies and one girl and we walked to the car. Claire and her mom were loading up in their car right next to us and Claire was crying. We've had a few play dates with Claire and she is a real girly girly princess, and all the drama that comes with that stuff - pretty much Ashley's opposite. Claire's mom looked at me and said something like, 'I swear the boys in this class just pick on all the girls. Everyday Claire is crying because they are calling her names and pushing her'. I forced out some response about that being too bad or something but, inside I felt so happy. Not because the boys pick on Claire, really. But, because I finally realized that there are some pretty big pros to playing with the boys.