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Thoughts on Raising Boys

Very few mothers understand why Aiden is allowed to jump on the couch in the toy room.  I never thought I would allow jumping on the furniture, but I do.  I also allowing ball throwing in the house.  I've also caught Aiden climbing up the banister and I allow that too.  All of this didn't happen at once...it's been more of a slow surrender.  You see, I'm a mom of boys.  And at some point I just stopped saying "no" and embraced the fact that I live in a zoo.

Little boys have to have space to be little boys.  They have to run, jump, bounce, roll from place to place.  Little boys do not walk.  They just don't.  They sprint...full speed ahead.  Instead of trying to reign them in I've decided to lace up my running shoes and keep up.  Their energy shouldn't be harnessed...it needs to be let out in wide open spaces.  Those wide open spaces should be filled with and is not limited to bugs to catch, trees to climb, creatures to look for, and dirt to get in every possible little crevice on their bodies.  Boys are a different bread.  They just are.

I have stopped investing in every type of crayon, marker, paint, and pens trying to entice Aiden to sit and color. While he does need to develop his fine motor skills, this is just not a priority for him.  I finally realized that today when all of the Spiderman pencils I bought were not being used as pencils but being used as arrows to shoot from his bow (which was a clothes hanger). Tedious tasks are a lost cause at our house.  Everything here is about bigger, better, faster, harder, farther, louder.

I think only moms of other boys relate.  And not every mother who has sons lets them loose like I do, just the ones who want to raise real men. But it's like minded mothers who have sons that just nod their head knowingly when they see me in the cereal isle choosing cereal simply because Spidey is on the front.  And while before having boys some things would seem unfathomable to me, I now see how it is completely possible to have a broken T.V. because a hockey puck made contact with the screen.  Other boy moms understand why my arms hurt at the end of the day just because I've been holding a 6 month old who is stronger than Hercules and has been constantly throwing himself around in my arms as he works on moving, moving, moving. Only other boy moms get why Aiden wears a green shirt everyday (to look like Robin Hood), why he eats breakfast 3 times, why he doesn't understand why some people don't really hit each other when they play swords, why tackle football comes naturally for him, why he thinks things are meant to be conquered, investigated, figured out, or destroyed and then built up again...because after all, isn't that what life is all about?  Yes, I'm a mom to boys.  I probably march to the beat of a different drum. Pardon me if you can hear my Indians from 3 blocks away.  I'm in the business of raising real men.

Comments

Love this! I couldn't agree more. My little boy will not be tamed...I wouldn't dare do that to him.
Beautifully written. They are busy, creative and entertaining, and that's why we love them so much.

Major bummer about the TV, hopefully it isn't broken.

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