Bringing Up Boys

When I was younger (starting around high school, I think), I would imagine what it would be like to have my own family. I always thought of myself with two little girls, for some reason. I'm sure that I imagined things that way, because that was all that I knew. I had a sister and all of my friends had sisters. I knew absolutely nothing about little boys.

I thought that I would have little girls, because that was what I was used to. I imagined them in white smocked dresses playing dolls or coloring quietly. Ha ha - what a laugh that is now!

The Lord blessed me with boys, and I wouldn't have it any other way. They are rowdy, crazy, fearless, and oh, so much fun! They have changed me in ways that a girl never could have. God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave me babies with XY chromosomes. :)
Here are a few things that I have learned in my 5 years of mothering little boys:

1. Boys are TOUGH! Injuries just don't phase them like they do with little girls. Drew fell off of the couch on Tuesday night. He cried for a few minutes and I held him to console him. He calmed down quickly and was ready to get down to play. As I lowered him down to the ground, I looked down and saw blood on my shoulder where I was cuddling him. I immediately freaked out and rushed to figure out where the blood was coming from. I quickly realized that it was from his eye. He had a big scrape on his eyelid and a bruise forming below his eye.

I was debating about taking him to the ER, but he was off and playing like nothing had ever happened. What in the world?!?!


2. Boys are hilarious! Yes, I know, that girls are funny too. Boys are just funny in a different way, I think. Their mind works totally differently than the female brain.

Yesterday morning I was in my bathroom doing my hair. Unbeknownst to me, Clayton had gotten our extra baby monitor and hooked it up. He put the monitor part in his room and the receiver in mine. He went up to his room and started talking to me through the monitor.

I heard, "Come in, Mother Bird. Come in, Mother Bird." over the crackly monitor static.

Y'all, I fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard.

By the way, he heard that line from Toy Story. ;)

3. If you have a second boy, he will learn how to be a boy even earlier by watching his older brother.

When Clayton was 2 1/2, he got a Nerf gun for Christmas. It quickly became his favorite toy. I, being from an all girl household, wanted nothing to do with toy guns. I was so upset about his new found gun fascination. I taught him to call it a "blaster" rather than a gun. I cautioned him constantly about pointing his "blaster" at anyone. I feared that him playing with this Nerf gun would lead him to a life of crime. I just knew that his obsession with this gun was going to require extensive therapy.

Wow, I was wound tight.

I talked to a couple of women from church that had older boys, and they were sweet to calm my fears. One of my friends said, "If you don't let little boys play with guns, they will make other objects into guns. They'll go so far as to eat their sandwiches into the shapes of guns. It's in their DNA." She was right!

Another one told me to rely on Wade's judgment, which was also excellent advice. He knows much more about being a man than I do, obviously.

So, I succumbed to the world of "blasters." I'm still not crazy about them, but I do allow them in our house.

And... Drew has learned much faster than Clayton did.

Exhibit A:


That video alone should show you how much my two boys have mellowed me. With Clayton, I was ready to put him in therapy when he showed an interest in guns. When Drew does it, I run to grab the video camera. ;)