Soon I will be the mother of two little boys.
And I am 110% GIRL.
I love make-up, jewelry, high heels, decorating, and the ballet. I really don’t care for football and I scream my head off at the site of most bugs. Yet God, who knows me better than anyone, has called me to raise two precious little boys into Godly men for His glory. Lately this means pushing the lawn mower (while off) around the yard and making lawn mower noises while my two-year old trails me with his plastic mower, making lawn mower noises of his own. It can be a bit mind-numbing after the first 45 minutes are so, but my little guy LIVES for it, so I keep on pushing and smile and act like I’m having the time of my life.
I recently read a blog post by my e-friend, Ginny, about being a boy mama and it resonated with me so much that I asked her permission to share that post with y’all today. Ginny has two little boys of her own and, obviously, a lot of boy mama wisdom (you can follow her blog
here). . . . Take it away, Ginny!
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“Boy Mom Up!”
I’m from Texas, the part with a lot of cowboys. (Oh wait, that describes the whole state.)
When I was in high school, I became aware of the following phrase: “Cowboy Up.” Also available in the gender-equal “Cowgirl Up”, this saying gently reminds its reader to do things like “Get Tough”, “Deal With It”, “Put on Your Big Girl Panties”, and so forth.
I’ve decided to coin a new phrase to be used when mothers of boys need to psyche themselves up to thread a worm on a fishing hook, remove the squished caterpillars or frogs from his jean pocket before you wash them, or involve her fatigued self in a never-ending light saber battle.
The phrase is…Boy Mom Up.
As mothers of boys, we sometimes have to do things that make us want to gag (see: threading a worm on a fishing hook) or fall over in a wearied puddle of exhaustion. Yeah, we’re moms. We’re female. That means many of us enjoy movies like “Anne of Green Gables”, “Out of Africa”, and “French Kiss.” We like rainbows and ponies, French braids and Nutella. This new world of war jargon, sword battles, and mock brutality is somewhat jarring to us. Hearing my baby boy say to his brother, “I’m dunna tiwl you, bubby!” does strange things to my guts.
Like many of you, I have to do a lot of things I don’t WANT to do. I don’t necessarily WANT to ride a bike over the ramps and jumps we have on the park across the street and do “tricks” and “stunts”, but when I do, the boys go wild.
“Whoa, MOMMY! I didn’t know you could do that!!”
Some days, I would rather sit and read a book, but how can I resist when the two fruits of my womb beg me to be Captain Hook while they are (both) Peter Pan?
I didn’t really WANT the boys to get covered in mud the other day while I was working on the window, but partially out of desperation and partially out of knowledge that their little souls have a deep need to mix water and dirt and then roll around in it, I allowed them to.
And yesterday, I was really quite tired. I’ve been going nonstop and I’m on a new streak of exercising. I was ready to “clock out” for a while. But my husband set up an awesome Nerf gun “course” on the park across the street from our house. Our boys and the neighbor kids were excited to have a “war”. My husband said he needed me to be on his team. At first I stared off into space, considering how my legs were feeling like cinder blocks. But then I “boy-mommed-up” and agreed. I might not have been the most active player. Or the most valuable player. But I was out there, and that counts. Never mind that I screamed and winced when someone within 7 feet shot at me. I hope that my boys will remember my presence on the battleground one day, even though I’m not in any of the pictures.
I am so happy to be a boy mom!
I just need to be sure I can always keep up with them.
Thankfully, playing hard eventually gives way to napping hard (or vice-versa).
I’m thinking of designing a bumper sticker. Who wants one? Be sure to “boy mom up” today if you can!
Your kids will never forget it.
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Do you have any stories to share of your proudest “boy mom” moment? Please share…we all need inspiration.
This is so good. I can relate. It’s another deep call to die to myself. Great post!
As a sister to 3 brothers, I loved reading this.
I have not one … TWO … basketball hoops in my living room. One is the nerf style and mounted on the wall above the door to the hallway. That one, I’d like to paint a fun color, just to make it look really intentional. Maybe turquoise? The other hoop is a Little Tykes free-standing one that raises to 6+ feet, so all of my guys … from dad, 11 year old, 6 year old and almost-2 year old … love to play.
Boys amaze me with their creativity to make fun out of simple stuff. Boys also are blessed with a better sense of contentment, I think. I watched my little 1-3 year old boys at the nursery at our homeschool co-op. That day, we went out to the playground for an hour and the three little boys (no girls that day), dug with little beach shovels and buckets, ran around, tried to find lizards, and never once complained or asked for anything … especially not to go inside! And boys also make teams well.
I love my girl too … but you asked about being a mom to boys. The best thing I heard when I found out we were having our third boy was from my 11 year old son’s karate teacher, who said that the world needs more boys being raised into strong men, so our parenting of boys was very needed. 🙂
Congrats on another little boy!!
CB, thank you for sharing! I love what you said and agree-my little guy could easily stay outside ALL day long, especially if shovels, dirt and lizards are involved (all in abundance here in NC)!
I loved this post!!! I am a total girlie girl and yet I have an utterly manly man for a huband (which of course I wanted ;)) and an 18-month total man child. I love being the girl between these guys, but I really, really hope to have a little girl in the near future… Yet, putting aside my need to be mommy friend to a little girlie girl with frills and flowers and painted nails and lover of shopping and shoes and coffee dates…. I think that maybe another little boy child would be fun too. That way someday we can introduce the baby sister to two of the most adoring fierce protectors of big brothers and what girl wouldn’t want that to grow up with? 😀 So I’m a dreamer…. I’m not even pregnant again… yet. 😀
Anyway, this post was so sweet and makes me anxious to have another child…. girl OR boy. 😀
Luv this post!
One time a friend of mine commented, “I always have a hard time sending my kid to your house because he always comes back dirty.” I have 3 boys. They play like boys. And I love love it. Smelly, dirty, pockets full of who-knows-what, and all.