How is this different?

hair is a vanity, zipping the pants can be seen as a "invitation"

Oh come one! Unziped pants are shameful but un-brushed hairs aren't shameful but it looks bad. So, the earlier should deserve a punishment while the later requires only a word or two!

If these where my kids I would buy them clothes that didn't zip up and cut the hair short so it never needs brushed. Now when the kids got older and wanted zipped pants an long hair then they would have to agree to take care of them if they failed then off goes the hair and back to unzipped pants.

Hi dawny! I don't think there should be any difference. I think that if you personally decide it is a wrong doing then the child, no matter which one, should be punished if you find that their behaviour is not acceptable. I have a constant battle with my kids as they always say things about what their friends are allowed to do but I don't find it acceptable, so I don't allow my kids to do it or say it. I would not allow any of my kids to get away with anything I don't accept, be it the youngest, the eldest, a girl or a boy!

Dawn- We've never punished our children for either, and won't. I'm not sure why a parent would make a huge deal out of this, especially if it is during the learning phase. And if a girl doesn't like long hair a parent shouldn't force her to keep it. If she wants short hair, she should have the freedom to choose. It seems a bit harsh to me to punish a boy for forgetting to zip his pants. It's kind of cumbersome job for little guys who are learning to try to keep it all together. Namaste-Anora

I would have to agree with what my mom (libby2009) said. I went through an "i dont want to brush my hair" phase. One major reason was because I had NO self esteem. I didnt even care because I figured "no one really cares about me anyways, so what is the point?" I remember when i started complaining about knots and my mom was like "well, what do you expect?" She helped me out and explained to me that that was why i needed to brush it. She explained the best way to get the knots out and was like "oh see how pretty you look brushed?" so i was like.. aww ok. :] Punishment for either one of those things is kind of dumb. I mean, it doesnt get you anywhere. Plus, after a while I wanted to look all pretty cuz i was TOTALLY boy crazy :]

probably because the of region involved. but yea,if they punish one they should punish the other.favortism never flies well with kids.

Maybe it's based on age. If the boy is older you'd expect him to know better and not need reminders anymore. Maybe the boy has been reminded more times than the girl has been pushed.

I'm having a 'duh' moment as I am not really understanding it. Sometimes my mind cannot take info in when I am stressed and I am stressed today. I wouldn't punish for either of these things. But if you are saying that children should be punished equally and not le the girl get away with murder then I agree with you. Blessings

If we are talking just from dad's point of view.... it's a daughter/daddy issue. Some daddys (not all) favor one over the other. And it's easier for them to punish a boy over a girl... or one girl over another. In my house of girls (the boy is young and different so out of this line for now) it's the "normal" girl should do better then the autistic one. Dad is being re-trained on that one.... I'm a mean wife and expect him to remember that if your autistic kid is a brat at 4, they will be a brat at 14. It's a balance thing. But I'm a mom.

That's a good one, you got me stunted on this one?

Oh, I forgot to mention about the whole equal punishment. I REALLY want to emphasize this: DONT do the favoritism thing. You think kids do not notice? We notice everything. EVERYTHING. Even the subtle looks you give eachother because you want alone time. Even the smallest sigh when we know you are going to give in to what we want. I'm violating total childhood code here by telling you guys, but we know way more than you all think.. and when we start realizing a sort of favoritism, it just starts sibling (or cousin) rivalry. You probably will not notice it until WAY later. We start an internal jealousy and then try to be the favored one. Not to mention, it hurts knowing your parent likes someone else more.

Well I think this is because they both are doing mistakes. But boys can easily zip up their pants. Well some small girls find it difficult to brush their hairs. So they may require someone to do that. Well boys can easily zip up their pants and they don't require any help to do that. So punishments are different for these people.

I think that is up to the parent's. I personally wouldn't punish my son for forgetting to zip up his pants. He'll learn eventually. All it will take is one embarassing moment and he'll figure it out. I can think of other more applicable, life altering things to focus my energies on rather than hair care and wardrobe malfunctions.

Well I think that the girl refusing to brush her hair does deserve some discipline, having a fly unzipped is different because thats an important thing for boys to learn how to do because they don't want to accidently expose themselves

Well it's a matter of degree and social custom. Let's face it boys are treated differently than girls, in certain things stricter and in others more lax. I remember always having many more rules to follow than my brother did.