My eight year old son digs crochet.  Tiss came home from school last week all excited because they are learning in handcrafts class, and he had to crochet two 30 cm long chains for homework.  He has always watched my modest attempts at crochet with quiet awe (don't you love the fact that to your children, you are a legend.  Doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks), although all I have ever knitted or crocheted successfully are scarves, which I join the ends of, like moebius strips and teach the kids to wind them around their necks all rumpled.
So now Tiss can crochet chains.  He picked this up easily once I showed him how, and has spent the last week making chains.  Long, long chains.  He is obsessed.  He crochets on the bus instead of talking to his mates.  He crochets between lessons, although his friend Theodore called him names to get him to stop.  "Obviously jealous of your crochet skills, darling" I consoled him.
Today he came home, pleased as punch, because he is apparently the second-best crochet-er in class.  How can you tell?  By the length of the chain, of course.  Arthur has a 7 metre chain, Tiss has a 4 metre chain, which makes him Nr 2. crochet king.  "And what of the girls?"  I asked.  "Where are they in the crochet hierarchy?"  -  "Nowhere, Mum.  Boys in our class are better at crochet.  WAAAAAY better." came the answer.  Hmmm, I can't help wondering about this.  Could it be that length doesn't matter so much to the girls?  Maybe they're into advanced double-treble-gravel stitch or something.  Who knows.  All I DO know is that the innocence of being eight is a wonderful thing.  I hope that I can teach Tiss the next step of crochet before someone wrecks his new hobby by telling him it's for girls!