Life With Boys

I get comments everytime I go out with the boys. Lots of very kind, positive ones, a few on the rude side, but almost all of them include the eyebrow-raised "Oh, ALL boys?!" Ah, yes, life with all boys. I joke that we got Molly so I could have some female companionship! But I remind all of the commenters that as long as I'm the only girl, I reign supreme as Queen of the House!

I love having all boys. Boys have so much energy, so much creativity, and are so open and down to earth. (Disclaimer - I am not saying girls *don't* have these attributes, as I wouldn't know! Just listing some of the things I've noticed about boys in particular!) We don't have meltdowns over which tu-tu to wear for dress-up, we don't worry about hairstyles, or even haircuts for that matter, as clippers solve everything! We don't have to worry about making sure we have enough closet space for dresses, or enough bedroom space to have separate rooms for different genders. Granted, when and if the Lord does bless us with a sweet baby girl, we will be over the moon!! But for now, I am very content and blessed with my four boys.

My point is, boys are distinctly different from girls. Society might try to tell us that boys and girls (and men and women) are the same, but the fact is, they just aren't. Equal in value, yes! But very, very different. Here's a situation that made this obvious for me.

Isaac was in the kitchen, and he dropped something rather heavy on his foot. He howled and grabbed his foot and hopped around saying "Oh, OUCH! That hurt SO much! Ow ow ow!" Ezra came rushing over to see what happened. Isaac showed him what had fallen on his foot and said "It hurt SO bad!"...and then the kicker... "Wanna try?"

Me, being female, naturally desiring to avoid unnecessary pain, having no desire to inflict unnecessary pain on others, and having no form of machismo, was dumbfounded that he asked. However, I was rendered completely speechless when Ezra replied "Yeah! Just drop it on there!" while holding his foot out.

And then I had the foreboding sense of understanding that this... is life with boys. And it will only get worse!

PS. An excellent book I read about the gender differences is "Why Gender Matters" by Leonard Sax. It really pointed out what the differences are, why the differences are what they are, and how boys and girls need different teaching and discipline styles. It really helped me understand not only my boys, but my husband, too!