I was the only girl in my family. I had no sisters and all male cousins on one side. My female cousins (all 3 of them) lived in Northern CA so I didn't get to see them as often as I liked. That meant that my formative years were spent playing with boys. This gave me a unique experience that formed me into the tom-boy princess I am today. Here are some lessons I can pass on to others less fortunate than myself:
1) Wonderwoman doesn't cry. Whenever my brothers would tease me or hurt me and I would cry, they knew they would get in trouble so they tried to convince me that real women didn't cry. Wonderwoman was (is) my favorite super hero so if she didn't cry then I shouldn't either. It often worked.
2) Anything can be a competition. Get a bunch of boys together in an empty room and they can make a competition out of it. Who can stand on one leg the longest, who can jump the farthest, who can hold their breath without passing out? If you add in a prop then the possibilities are endless. One of my personal favorites is the crawl around a table. You take a fold up rectangular table and see if you can crawl around it (the narrow end). It's trickier than it may seem.
3) Instructions are for people who don't know what they're doing and you should be able to figure out how to build anything by just looking at it. (I actually go against this one entirely. I read EVERY instruction).
4) If you don't have one, build it. Need a shelf? Build one. Is something broken? You can fix it with some duct tape. Zip line? No problem, I'm sure I've got some extra wire and a pulley and harness somewhere in the garage.
5) Chicks dig scars...I'm not sure if this works the other way around...
6) Don't tell the hospital the real reason your elbow is bruised or your knee is hyper-extended. "While wrestling with my brother in the kitchen, I was thrown to the floor and landed on my elbow." They look at you funny when they see that you are a grown-up and so is your 6'5'' brother.
7) Don't react. When teased, scared, pushed, pulled, tickled, or put in a choker hold simply relax and wait for it to be over. They usually get bored long before you pass out...usually.
8) The Matrix is the best movie ever made...and if you disagree Paul will kill you.
9) If you like (0r at least know enough about them) Sci-Fi, the Godfather movies, Rambo, and Rocky you will always have a movie connection with boys.
10) Don't ever punch at full strength or someone might punch you back at his full strength...trust me on this one.
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