Boys! A Shock After Sisters!

As a mother of boys who grew up in a household of sisters, raising boys never ceases to amaze and teach me.  For instance, the phrases that actually come out of my mouth to the amounts of groceries that we buy, raising boys always leaves me with a feeling of bewilderment. 

In a household of sisters, grocery shopping is much different than in a household of boys.  With girls, we had contests challenging who could eat the least.  Sure we would tempt each other with donuts and when one of us would cave, the other two would explain, “A minute on your lips, forever on your hips,” in an antagonizing tone, but it was always in good fun.  We would only eat a ton of food if the other two promised to as well.  Boys on the other hand, constantly make a contest competing over who can eat more! 

It does not matter what it is, meat, fruits, vegetables, sweets, it doesn’t make any difference!  They eat and eat!  Every time I go to the grocery store, someone comments on the amount of groceries in my cart!  The boys insist on bringing their lunch every day, whereas typical children will eat at school, giving their mothers one less meal to fix but no, not these boys.  And you can bet there is always a box of fruit snacks in the cart, because I have learned that they are magic morsels that help us get Jacob through an entire church service.  He nearly salivates begging for a hit the minute he sees a package of gummies.  The funny part about our grocery cart, although it is always overflowing, it never has meat, eggs, jam or corn because we always keep a year supply of that in our freezer from the farm, which make my cart even more ridiculous!

The phrases that flow out of my mouth also always astound me.  For example I had to explain, “No, you may not keep a container of worms and mud in the house.”  To me this is a no brainer but not to boys who love to fish.  This weekend I stated, “Please do not walk on the porch with dead squirrels in your hand.”  Really?  This is something that has to be said aloud when you have boys?   

Even though they are messy and I may one day have to get a second job to pay the grocery bill, I would not want my life any other way.  They are smart too!  The other day when I asked Carson and Gavin to do something for me and they gave me lip, Robert said, “What have I told you?” They quickly responded, “We know, if mommy isn’t happy, no one is!”

Dirty, Smelly and Sweet

                As I was raised in a houseful of girls, now being the only female living in my household has been a true eye-opening experience.  There are many ways of thinking, acting and reacting that are unique to boys that never occurred to me.  Not to mention the extra dirt, smells and my favorite, the irreplaceable sweetness.

                Most who know me would agree that I have a bit of a type A personality to put it mildly.  I like things neat, organized and believe everything has its place.  However when you live with a household of boys, including my husband, cleaning the floor is an invitation for someone to come trampling across the floor in muddy, cow poop coated boots.  Making beds means that it is time to build a tent or a fort with every blanket and pillow in the house and cleaning the kitchen means everyone is hungry-again!

                Random holes are commonly found in the yard either from digging for treasure, creating a golf course or burying secret stashes. Of course how do I find these holes, by stepping in them and nearly breaking a body part. Shovels and tools are commonly found by the lawn mower and somehow sand from the outside sandbox is always in their beds and worse in mine!   

                Another lesson I have learned, is every open space is a wrestling ring and any object can easily be transformed into a weapon.  When I was a new, naive mother, I had this idea that I did not want my boys to have toy guns because they would be around real ones as their dad is a hunter and I wanted them to respect guns.  This is a great idea in theory, however a mop easily becomes a sword and any other relatively straight and pointy object such as a stick or spoon becomes a gun.

                However I have also learned that boys are the sweetest to their moms.  I get lots of random hugs, kisses and I love yous.  They are protective of me, open doors, help me carry items and can be little gentlemen.  When we go places without Robert, Carson always tells Robert, “We will look out for mommy.”  So although  they come with lots of dirt and smells, the sweetness makes them worth it!