Boys Will Be Boys
Emily
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Even though I let my son play with dolls, and try to encourage his nurturing and caring side, there is another side of him that I am just beginning to learn about. The side of him that is “all boy”.
Yesterday, I brought him outside after his nap and set him down on the porch. He had just woken up, but less than a minute later was playing with his dump truck in a dirt pile in our back yard and already covered in dirt.
I have two younger sisters, and my first was a girl, so all of this boy stuff is new to me. When we found out we were having a boy this time, I said to my husband, “He’s going to be all yours, because I have no idea what to do with him.”
We went cherry picking the other day, and after eating his fill of cherries, the next thing he did was find a patch of sand and proceeded to cover his cherry stained hands, legs, feet and face in dirt.
It’s true. Sometimes, I have no idea what to do with him.
The dirt, and climbing, and bugs, and running. I’m good with the nurturing and caring side of him, not so good with the rough and tumble side.
I’ll be honest, the whole being a boy thing often drives me a little crazy. I don’t like dirty feet tracking mud through my house, I don’t want to feel like I have to bathe my child three times a day, I get nervous when he leaps from the coffee table to the couch.
But, I’m learning how to let my boy be a boy. I want him to be able to be who he is, to do the things that he loves to do. Whether that’s playing with dolls, or finding the only available patch of dirt for miles around and covering himself in it. That’s what kids are supposed to do, right?
I’m already nervous about when he gets older. Nervous about him playing sports and getting hurt, doing crazy and wacky stuff with his friends, or his dad, exerting his independent spirit that I know will serve him well in life, but just makes his mother’s heart skip a beat.
I love this little boy more than I could ever imagine. And I hope that somehow in loving him, I can give him the space that he needs to be all of the boy that he is.
On raising boys, this Dad suggests to “Think Caveman”!
At least he is jumping from the coffee table to the couch and not the other way around….my brother-in-law had to get his tongue stitched back together after a missed jump from the couch to the coffee table.
That’s my boy. I’m very proud of the wonderful dad and father he has become. We do love watching this grandson grow up too!
Sounds just like my….daughter. No honest. She likes to “dress up” and she loves to play with her dolls and stuffed animals, but get that girl anywhere near dirt, mud, or sand and she is digging big holes and literally burying herself in it. She also loves jumping off of stuff. She drags a stool 2 foot stool around the house so she can leap off it. I have also had to learn how to let go and relax a bit. I admire her independence, courage, and adventurous…even if it does make me nervous.