Boys and Girls {a perspective change}

I've had some pretty inaccurate pre-conceived notions about boys vs. girls over the years. In college, I worked at a church "mom's day out" program and found that my 13 boys were less work than my three whiny girls. The boys would fight over a toy, but eventually one would give up and find interest in something new. The girls would fight over a toy and both come running to me after their tiny feelings were hurt when so-and-so attempted to emotionally scar them for life. So for years, my mind was set that boys were mellow, girls were whiny and over-emotional.
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Then Ryan grew into 2...3...4 years old. Granted, he "gets over it" pretty quick when he's reprimanded or doesn't get his way, but I quickly realized that boys are a bundle of energy. They. Never. Stop. And their attention span? Forget about it! When Kaylin was 2 and Ryan was 4, she would sit still to color or do a craft far longer than Ryan ever would at 2...let alone 4! So I decided that girls were more mellow than boys.
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It seemed fairly consistent with kids I know, with a few exceptions (as there always are) and my opinions seemed validated for a while. The first time I volunteered at Ryan's 3 year old pre-school class, I was relieved by the chaos that I observed. Few of the other kids listened to instruction, most of the other kids also had NO attention span and Ryan seemed more the "boy rule" than the exception. It seemed my expectations of him were too high.
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This was my perception until yesterday. Boys = wild and unpredictable, Girls = mellow and mature. Until I volunteered in Kaylin's class. First of all, I should note that the last time I volunteered at school was in May, and that was with 4-5 year old kids that were Kindergarten-ready. Yesterday, being with barely 3 year olds who had never been in school before was...beyond exhausting.
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Mind you, nearly ALL of the kids were a challenge in one form or another, not just the boys and not just the girls. But the two who exhausted me most today were both girls. Granted, maybe they've never been away from their parents, maybe they didn't get a good night's sleep or have a decent breakfast that day, kids have "off" days just like the rest of us. But WOW were they a handful today: sassy, belligerent, disrespectful, blatantly disobedient...wow. I was under the impression that Kaylin was pretty well behaved for her age and yesterday confirmed that 100%. In comparison, she was an angel. And not just because I was aiding...you could tell she was just doing her thing. And maybe today she was having a one of her "good" days. But I suddenly feel even more blessed that my sweet girl has the disposition that she does. I'm not sure I have the energy to aide with the rest of the kids in her class, though! Oh holy night...
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So what's my point? I guess I've finally realized that boys and girls are very different, but you can't really accurately label them one way or another. It all depends on their personalities. All little kids need to get their wiggles out, not just boys. They all need a variety of activities and don't sit still for long. Few are truly "rule followers" and most prefer to challenge authority instead of go with the flow. When put in a group, most will conform and listen to instruction, but not all. Many will line up, but you'll always have a wanderer or two. Especially at the ripe young age of 3.
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I just don't look forward to aiding over the next month. I need to mentally prepare myself and get out of my Kindergarten-maturity-level mentality. These are 3 year olds, after all! I was hoping to aide a lot now so I could take a break when the baby's born, but I'm not sure I have it in me! I need to reserve that kind of patience for helping Ryan with his homework every afternoon. I don't have the saint-like patience of a pre-school teacher! I can only (calmly) repeat myself (again and again and again) so many times before I mentally go insane and start biting my lip...