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!