What are little girls made of?

Traditionally, sugar, spice and all things nice. Not sure how true this is. I know a few little girls who are like the ‘girl with the curl right in the middle of her forehead – when she was good, she was very, very good and when she was bad she was horrid.’ Not so sugary and not so nice. And a jolly good thing too, if you ask me. The need to stand up and be assertive is important for a woman as well as for a man, which may mean having the ability to be just a little bit horrid occasionally.

But boys are supposed to be made from slugs and snails and puppy dog’s tails, which is just vile. I don’t know where the rhyme came from, but the difference between the sexes can’t be that much surely?

And then I heard from a teacher the other day that she had a mum take her new baby into the classroom to show the children. All the girls and one or two of the boys came to study the infant, who obligingly smiled and occupied the class’s attention. Except for half a dozen boys, who took advantage of the (supposedly) distracted teacher.

‘Go on, I dare you. Go on’, one of the boys urged another. ‘I dare you.’

And the dare?

To lick a battery.

Need I say more?