As I have mentioned in earlier blog postings, I grew up in an all girl family. Naturally, I would be a girl mom. I would have only girls, we would do dress-up, paint fingernails, play barbies, talk about boys, shop, and swap purses. However, God saw fit to give me only one daughter and THREE boys! Yikes!
Before I had kids I used to wonder who would like little boys? Why would a mom want to have little boys? They aren't nearly as fun to dress and they couldn't possibly be cute and loving. All little boys just looked the same to me...much like Asian people look to me...they all just look the same. But God has taught me that the heart of a boy can be just as loving, caring, fun and tender as the heart of a girl.
Let me back up a second, though, and let me have a moment to bask in the joy of being the mom of a daughter. Today is my daughter's birthday...she is 19 and away at college. Today is the first time EVER that I haven't hugged and kissed her on her birthday...kind of stings a little. (wipe tear) I thoroughly enjoyed being the mom of a daughter...and since I only had one, I did it up right! No one can tell me that 75 dresses in her first three years was too many. Afterall, she was the only girl. Ok, yes, I didn't know I wouldn't have another one but somehow I am guessing that the Lord impressed upon my heart the need to go all out. We did everything--I went on all the field trips, always baked a beautiful cake for birthdays and had family over, we did slumber parties, shopped a lot (Lauren's first word was "clearance") I did her hair everyday with bows, curling irons and hairspray, took lots of pictures, cried with her over girl drama, bought school dance dresses, threw a sweet 16 party and enjoyed prom as much as she did. I even got her TWO dresses for graduation because you just can't have the same dress in pictures--one for the open house, one for the ceremony. It has been a wonderful, girly kind of time raising her. Now she is a beautiful-on-the-inside-as-she-is-on-the-outside young lady who loves Jesus and lives her life for Him. What better reward could a parent want?
But, now, let's talk about boys. Boys are so different in so many ways. For instance--they don't care about clothes--at all. Jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and tennis shoes in boy colors serves them all and for all functions. (Boy colors = black, blue, green but not lime, brown but not tan, and occasionally red) And since my boys were back to back to back, October, November, and December the seasons all matched and there were LOTS of hand-me-downs, which would never work with girls. My youngest once said, "Mom, can I just please have some clothes with tags on them?" Um, yeah. Even though he didn't need anything I went THAT DAY to buy him something new. And boys do not understand the need for wearing nice clothes, they are just clothes and what difference does it make if they have khakis and a polo shirt vs. Levis and a Nike T? Duh, mom.
They also like critters. None of my three boys have ever been afraid or creeped out or squeemish about any kind of critter. Snakes, frogs, toads, crayfish, lizzards, turtles. (WHAT is it with reptiles and amphibians?) They see them, they catch them. It is in their DNA. In addition to the typical pets of cats and dogs, requests have been made for the following (and I am NOT joking): a joey, pufferfish, a bearded dragon, chinchilla, komodo dragon, shark. I have seen them pick up any kind of insect or spider without hesitation and it is especially pleasing to them to come at Mom with a june bug!
With boys you are also likely to have just about anything anywhere: basketball on the kitchen floor, army guys in your purse, Nutrigrain bars without the wrapper in their pockets, socks in the sandbox, toybox, front closet, couch cracks, kitchen table, bucket in the garage, outside window well, bathtub, in the pocket behind the drivers seat. You may also find your kitchen utensils and silverware in the yard, under their bed, in the video games, in the garage by the toolbox. You may find matchbox cars in YOUR closet, a soccerball in their overnight bag (but NOT a toothbrush), video game cartridges on the roof, dog collars in the dishwasher (ok, that one was my doing.)
They will also try anything: eating a worm because Bear Grylls does, lighing a fire with flint (oh, boys LOVE fire!), eating snails on a cruise, and climbing and jumping from the following: the roof, a cliff with posted "Do Not Climb" signs, the top bar of the swingset, the highest limb in your backyard or your neighbor's, the top of any fence, the highest shelf in the garage, or the highest cliff-diving rock at the lake. However, before such fetes are attempted, they must first spit or pee off said high place and/or throw at least one rock.
Boys don't mind sweat or odor either. And the harder they play the more of both you get. Numerous shoes have been discarded because they simply stink too bad. They never hang up a towel and if, on rare occasion, they don't leave it on the floor it lands in the hamper where it soaks and stinks up the rest of the laundry. Boys do not unpack leftover sandwiches from sack lunches--odor. They do not take a shower at camp--odor. They do not brush their teeth without reminder--odor. They leave worms in a cup on the deck--odor. They cage a snapping turtle and leave him on your counter--odor. They belch and pass gas--odor.
But though the saying is "Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what girls are made of" I think the saying should and does apply to boys as well. Boys love their mom and no matter what, when they are hurt or sick or sad or hungry or need football clothes washed or help with a school project or an exact replica of the Eiffle Tower the next day for school or a field trip buddy or their back rubbed at night or a corsage for a girl for a school dance, they ALL want mom--her help, her encouragement, her direction, her touch. They want Mom to call the teacher, Mom to look at any owies, bruises, warts, bumps, weird things on their bodies, even in private places, Mom to cuddle with them in the evening watching TV, Mom to talk with about friend issues, Mom to bring them toast and soup when they are sick. Boys think their Mom is pretty, can do anything, cook anything, fix anything, diagnose anything, and pray anything away at night so they can sleep.
I never thought in a million years that I would enjoy a replay of a football game beautifully acted out with rocks on the front porch. I never thought I would enjoy wiffle ball with hats, trees, and bare spots as bases. I never thought I would enjoy wrestling matches, and yes the associated odor. I never thought I would enjoy the joy a boy gets as he proudly shows off the biggest frog on the planet that he caught with his bare hands. I never thought I would enjoy 9 innings of T-ball (ok, that one I don't) but when your kid is playing--even if he is air-guitaring in the outfield--I love being there and watching him. I have grown to love stinky shoes, full jean pockets in the laundry room, wet towels on the floor, missing silverware, mismatched socks, reminding my boys to brush their teeth, yelling "be careful" a half a dozen times a day, and finding their treasures all over (and I do mean ALL OVER) the house. These things I love. These are the things that are beautiful reminders of the joys of boys. Mix in a backrub or two, a "K thanks" text or two, a kiss on the cheek at bedtime, and always an "I love you" as they head up to the bus and I am good! I don't need them to shop, I am fine with a buzz cut, I am getting used to the smells, t-shirts make mornings a whole lot easier, and balls in my kitchen and army guys in my purse are just fine by me. Because all of these things are evidence of God's great, great love for me. He has lovingly and perfectly planned to graciously allow me to be the mother of boys.
Blessed, blessed, lucky, lucky me.
