Segregated Dirt

Last night I was outside taking pictures of the girls. DeLaynie and Ella were playing with the rocks on the driveway.

"Look Mom! Isn't this a neat rock?"

"Um, Mom? Is she eating that rock?"

By good providence, the Youth Dude, Youth Dude's Awesome Chick, and their three boys pulled into the church parking lot (our yard is adjacent to the church parking lot). It's a good thing that they did, because Ella had almost eaten all of the rocks out of the driveway. (No, not really. She never actually swallowed any, though she might have gotten some of that yummy dirt flavor off of them. :) We went over to the parking lot to prevent the Youth Dude family from getting any actual exercise, which was the reason that they came in the first place.

DeLaynie and Ella, being the oh-so-feminine little darlings that they are, instantly gravitated toward a pile of sand, dirt, and pea-size gravel. The eldest Youth Dude boy plopped down and joined in on the messy fun with DeLaynie and Ella. Unfortunately, DeLaynie is a little, um, stingy with her dirt. After a few minutes, the six year-old Youth Dude boy deserted the girls' pile.

He went from this pile...

to this pile. His brothers joined him after a couple of minutes. This left one dirt pile reserved for the ladies, and the other for the gentlemen.

Here I was, thinking we had come so far, but we can't even share a pile of dirt. The future may not be as bright as I had once thought. Granted, it was the fault of my own sex. My own daughter's selfishness has deepened the gender gap to a point that could possibly be beyond repair. We can still hope that it is possible to get past such a trench of distrust and selfishness.