The lights were out and our heads had gratefully hit our pillows. It had been a long day with a lot of worries. We had prayed for our kids as per our usual bedtime routine (unless we’re fighting – speaking of which, I wonder if our kids should keep journals and we could do an informal study of those days when we don’t pray for them because of our stubbornness and fighting and those that we do and document the difference! We could then write a book on prayer! But I digress…) As I lay there tears filled my eyes and I began to cry. And then a voice from the other pillow, a voice who has known me in both the Biblical and emotional sense, for over 27 years, said “Oh no you don’t! Don’t you go crying! We’re tired. We can’t have crying!” I stopped short, my mouth open. Hadn’t he read the script?! He was supposed to either be snoring and oblivious, or to say “Honey, what’s wrong? How can I help?” He was not supposed to say “Oh no you don’t!” I began to laugh, and with the laughter the tears quickly dried.
From crying into pillow cases to “Does this make me look fat?” the differences between the sexes abound and it’s so much more than a p. and a v. Although told we are made from Adam’s rib, we know that God did a whole lot of something to that rib as He fashioned us.
Throughout the ages writers, philosophers, physicians, and pastors have attempted to use literature to write about the differences between men and women, boys and girls. Some are best sellers, others are out of print; some are worth reading, others are worth trashing; some make you think, some just stink. So it was with great pleasure that I re-discovered timeless wisdom on the differences between boys and girls, men and women. I think you will agree with me that no literature can compare with this infinite wisdom from “Little Rascals”. Please take a look – it’s a short clip and it will surely resonate on this Wednesday morning. Enjoy!
With thanks to my daughter Annie for directing me to the clip!
On another note, today I reach 75,000 views in a year and 2 months of blogging. With this milestone I am not doing a giveaway (saving that for 100,000 views!) but picking two readers – one who has been with me since almost the beginning and one that just came on board a couple of weeks ago – and sending them a gift card or a book. The two are Weaving Tapestries and The Walker Lady, respectively. I will be in touch through email with your gifts! A huge thankyou to all of you who find this worth reading! If you think your friends would enjoy Communicating Across Boundaries, please share with them. I’ve made it easy to do so through the link on the left column of the blog with the orange plus sign. Also, make sure you “Like” the Facebook page!
Related articles
- Your Favorite Quotes About Childhood (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
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Marilyn R. Gardner 
So dear and so true (and so lived at my address too) . . . loved both the LIttle Rascals clip AND your pillow talk story. The “We can’t have crying!” dictum reminded me of a favorite family film, “A League of Their Own,” when a new women’s baseball team’s male manager declares to one of his female players, “There’s no CRYING in baseball!!” This post was yet another of your memorable examples of communicating across boundaries!
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Wow! Congrats for the number of views!
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Thanks so much! It’s funny though…..the minute I go thinking I’m all cool and such, like many things in life, I meet someone who had a million views in 6 months!! So it’s all about enjoying ourselves and not getting to caught up in the numbers….So I say now that I’ve broadcast to the world how cool I think I am…:(. Love your blog and the viking/kitten connection! Thanks so much for reading this morning!
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We blog about not so well known destinations and we are already glad when we hit a couple of hundred views per day :-) Thanks for loving our blog, we love yours too!
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Have you thought about submitting to Bucket List Publications http://www.bucketlistpublications.com/? She is always looking! It can be stuff you already posted and your stuff would be perfect. She links your blog and name. Her name is Leslie Carter and she is lovely. Tell her Marilyn sent you :)
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I have already sent some stuff to Lesley :-) By the way, that’s how I found your blog! :-)
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Thanks for the good laugh this morning. :) You know it already, but I love your blog – it’s just like that morning mug of chai … so good, but so short, leaving you waiting for the next morning! ;) (Yes, life from the view of a tea lover.)
Thanks again!
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Thank you, thank you Jessica! Maybe some day we can have that chai together as we talk about life…and funny thing, I’m in the process of writing a post about tea! Have you read my post “Chai, Chai, Garam Chai”? I think you’d like it!
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marilyn, this reminds me of when nate marlowe saw this movie at about 5 years old. when it was over he said to his mom, “i could never be a woman hater; i’m a woman LOVER!” (remember how we had to stop him from kissing stephanie and marie under mike’s desk?!)
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I do remember that….and Stef’s Foofoo dress that went from white, to off white, to grey in the Cairo dust. And both Marie and Stef wanted to be Jasmine. Do you remember the time when little Anita came to the door and I said “Stef – come see Anita! She’s here to play too!” And Stef came out, arms across folded across that lacy dress, and said “Hello Anita! You can play by yourself…!”
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no wonder boys hate girls — in this case i think maybe girls hated girls too.. :-)
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This is wonderful. Suddenly the millenia of mystery is solved!
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Ha! And the mystery solved by mere children! I realized today how much I love this movie! Thanks for reading Eric.
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HAAAAA – “Oh no you don’t, don’t you go crying” – Too funny – Why are men so afraid of our emotions – Like cryptinite to superman- they stand paralyzed – I LOVE this clip!!! I will replay this in my mind the next time I attend a meeting and I’m the lone women in the midst of a sea of male colleagues –
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Hahaha!! Me too! I had forgotten just how perfect it was! “They NEVER Listen” “They talk talk talk!”
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I dont know if us as a male population are “afraid of female emotions”. Given some female emotions warrent fear, however I think for the most part us as men attempt to deflect female emotions due to the fact we do not know how to effectively deal with them. 9/10 us guys are fairly emotionless whereas with the female gender, the complete opposite. So in saying that, us guys dont know how to react to emotions as well as females do. I think I can speak on behalf of all males and say that when the people we love are hurt and upset, we honestly want to help, however we are simple creatures and cannot effectively relate or find a means to express that. :)
Great post! Hands down favorite clip from that movie “Babes are like a bad song!” hah
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haha!! I think you are TOTALLY right! That’s why my husband’s comment was so great – he knows me and he knew that what I needed at the time was not an empathic hug but a “Oh no you don’t!!” And I promptly laughed and fell asleep. As I think about Little Rascals – the whole thing is so right on! Time to watch the whole movie again. Thanks for posting, more so for commenting and keeping the discussion going.
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Thanks that is so true- and leads us all back to “learning to communicate across boundaries” I am always learning more about how I can adapt – to cross into, learn from and communicate = across cultural, gender, socioeconomic and ethnic diversity… A life long journey of learning for sure
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@Marilyn – No problem! It was written very well! Lookin forward to reading more of your work
@alpha – TOTALLY! however the only thing most of us guys change is the in our trucks. But Im completely with you as far as the “adaptation” goes. I will be the FIRST one to admit, I am NOT a relationship guy. Im HORRIBLE in them. However, I do know alot about attracting the opposite sex and in any form of attraction you need to effectively adapt to your “target” (horrible explaination and I apologize) for any effective method of seduction is to work.
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