I am employed at Grand Pacific MarBrisa Resort in Carlsbad and I work in the activities center with children. Last Thursday, I had a 4:00pm sand art activity, and six young boys showed up to participate. As their Mother’s exited the room to return when the hour was over, all of the boys smiled angelically, said bye to their moms, and began to do the craft. I initially gave all of the boys a lot of attention and assisted them, but once they got the hang of it, I stepped back and allowed them to create their own sandy masterpiece. After sitting peacefully with the cooperative boys for about 7 minutes, someone asked for my assistance in the gym. After turning my head for one moment, one boy yelled out, “SAND FIGHT ” The activities center that previously was humming in peace quickly turned into a war zone! The six boys were running around, hiding behind chairs, throwing sand, and pretending their packet of sand was a gun and firing it while verbalizing amazingly accurate gun noises! I was naïve to assume that no childish acts of rebellion would take place, after all, Deborah Blum says that boys will be boys and "bite their toast into the shape of a pistol hoping it will blow away, or at least terrify their younger brother" (574). Despite my shocked expression, and strong self-control to hold back a burst of laughter, I made all the boys sit down and we continued the activity, disregarding the beach like floor we were all standing in!
Blum, Deborah. The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over? Signs of Life in the USA. Ed. Maasik, Sonia and Soloman, Jack. 6th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 86-92. Print.
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