What can I say about my boys? I actually hesitate to write my blog about them considering the day we had yesterday. Yesterday was one of those days that I was jealous of the Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe. In today's world her parenting solution would result in a call from social services. At least her kids took their punishments and went to bed.
Yesterday afternoon when I was cleaning the kitchen one of the boys held the happy hopper toy down when the other one poked holes in it with a dandelion picker. The jury is still out on who played what role in this crime. Discovering a sad pile of rubber where a fun toy once lived really ticked me off. I yelled and threatened and lost it in general. All the parenting skills that I learned about in the past six years were forgotten. That was the high point of the afternoon. After that, the back talk and the time out tantrums were the icing on the cake. This is always the point in the day when I call Paul to see when he is coming home and pray that it is SOON. At least when he is here we can get a good man to man defense going on. I never really got the concept of how to play effective zone defense. I was never where the ball ended up and was always just standing there with a glazed look as the ball swished through the net. This is the same thing that happened this afternoon. I was defending the kitchen when I should have been in the backyard. Three against one is not very fair no matter how good your skills are. It took Paul and me hours to get them to bed. They ran around the house laughing and screaming. They unmade my bed and managed to pee all over the edge of the toilet seat. Of course they left the lid up. I discovered that little mess during my in the dark , can't hold it through the night anymore, because I had three kids,midnight pee.
After all the bedlam had ceased I went to check on them and discovered that someone had replaced the demon children with two little angels. Calvin was sucking on the same two fingers he has since birth. Oscar was all curled up in his Cars blanket. How could I possibly be angry with them? I regretted my behavior from earlier in the day and vowed to be a "better mother" in the morning. This is not the first time I made myself and my children this promise.
I had no idea what raising boys would be like. I grew up with one sister. I know raising girls has it own set of challenges but I was woefully unprepared for the pure mischief that comes with raising boys. Of course there are benefits too.
Boys are not tattletales. They stick together. As a mother I am torn by this issue. Would I prefer the constant tattle tale antics that come with having little girls or would I rather have the crimes against rubber balls ended? I think I would rather that we have a few toy casualties than hear the constant whining.
Boys are easier to dress. They don't care what they wear. Their hair is easy to do. I have not invested a months income on hair bows and ribbons for the boys. They don't need shoes to match all their outfits. They don't care if their shoes match their outfits.
We still have moments of sweetness too. Calvin is still at the age where he wants to marry me. Oscar still thinks I can fix everything. The ability to create a really cool pattern of wooden railway is still a highly admired skill in our house. I know I need to enjoy these moments now. I won't be shopping for prom or wedding dresses with these guys. I'll be lucky to be able to snap a few pictures of the events in their adulthood.
Best of all I have the privilege of creating men of the future. Someday these little demons are going to be Dads. They are going to be husbands. The lessons I teach my boys are going to affect another family someday, hopefully for the better. I hope I am able to raise kind and gentle men who have the skills to provide for a family. This is a tremendous responsibility. I hope I am up to the task.
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