Boys

“Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout "Bang!" ~George F. Will 

When I was a kid I loved to color and draw.  I may not have ever been the best artist in the world but it made me really happy.

What did I draw? 

I drew a lot of birds and rainbows, animals, smiling faces, houses with picket fences and flowers. You know?  Happy, cheerful things.

So you can imagine my surprise the first time my eldest boy came to me with his prized drawing in his hand, all proud and beaming from ear to ear and saying,

 "Look, Mommy!  Look what I drew!"

I was horrified and more than a little disturbed by the guns, and bloody knives that the stick men in the drawing were sporting. 

"WHAT THA? Devin, why would you?  What? ...  I mean...what in the world would possess you to draw such awful, horrible things?"  was not the response my little guy was shooting for (pun intended).

Nor was he expecting the interrogation and "is everything okay with you?" conversation that followed.

I have long since gotten past the shock factor of such drawings.  My youngest draws the same kinds of things.  He presented me with one tonight on his dry erase board.  He was so ecstatic about this drawing that I just HAD to come right that minute to see it!

It was yet another gun and knife picture.  And this is my boy who loves babies and taking care of animals and plants and wants to be a vet when he grows up. 

Oh, Dracen.  I said.  Such an angry picture. Why don't you draw something happy?  But no shock.  No interrogation. I've been here. done this. many, many times now.

Devin overhears me and wants to know what it was he drew. I tell him and he says,

"All boys draw things like that." 

Ahhh....Yes.  Yes, I know.

Boys like to draw weapons and tell wiener jokes. 

They drink directly from the gallon milk jug or orange juice carton when I'm not looking and they think farting is the most hysterical thing imaginable.

Wrestling and horseplay are their preferred methods of communication and there is nothing in this world better than peeing outside.

They don't understand why I want them to take a bath when they just had one 2 (or was it 3?) days ago and they can make a weapon or a fort out of anything from a plastic coat hanger to a cardboard box and a dish towel.

They see absolutely nothing wrong with wearing that favorite dirty shirt covered in orange cheetoh residue out of the hamper or those favorite stained up shorts with the huge rip in the crotch....to church.

I always thought I'd have a little girl because I was, after all, a girly girl myself.  Loved my dolls, and shoes, and shopping and baking and gossiping with my friends.  I knew how to french braid and put together cute little outfits, complete with accessories.

When I got older, little girls loved me, were drawn to me. My first niece was born when I was 13 and I now have several of them and even a baby girl great niece too.  I know how to buy "little girl" gifts that are guaranteed to be a hit at any girl party. 

So when God gave me not only one, but two little boys, part of me wondered why.  I always knew I would have just two children.  I just didn't know they'd both be boys.

But you know what?  I wouldn't trade my crazy, sometimes chaotic, testosterone- overloaded life for anything.  Nothing.

Oh, I still love little girls.  I mean, after all, I was one.

But God knew what I was cut out for long before I ever did. 

I am a mom of two ALL BOY boys and although I sometimes don't understand them and I often times get stark raving furious with them, they have taught me the art of laughing at myself, to sometimes be okay with getting a little dirty for the sake of fun and that red dirt is almost next to impossible to get completely out of white ball pants.

And I love those two little Y chromosomes with every single ounce and fiber of my being. 

My mother-in-law, Pat (who also had two boys), said to me when I found out I was having Boy number 2,

There's just something special about saying,

A boy is a magical creature-you can lock him out of your workshop,
but you can't lock him out of your heart  ~Allan Beck

"Come on, Boys...Let's go!"

And Thank God, she was so right. 

So what about you? 

What unexpected, never saw it coming, blessings has God placed in your life?