Mom to 3 Boys...

Awww, the sweet sound of boys playing...The laughter, the camaraderie, the love between brothers! Yeah right!  Not around here!  We have, "That is my Beyblade, or Mom, Colt is ruining my Lego tower."  But when there is silence, you know something is WRONG!

The other day, I decided to straighten up and clean out the boys room.  I had bought some bins to put their toys in.  While I was hard at work, I hear nothing...silence...followed by the sound of Kade saying "Mom, you better get in here!"  "What Kade?"  "Umm, Colt and Blake dumped a whole container of salt into the gallon of milk!"  "WHAT?"  "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"  This is my life...this is what it is like to raise boys!  This is a WHOLE new world to me.

See, I grew up with 2 sisters.  At no point did we ever think of doing these crazy antics.  We would play house, braid Aubree's hair, or play outside peacefully.  We would fight...we would argue, but we did not do the crazy things my boys have done.  The "milk" incident is one of many that have occurred at my house.  I distinctly remember Kade as a 4 year old, whom was fully potty trained standing on top of my end table watering my carpet! I said, "Kade, why did you do that?"  His response; "I wanted to see how far I could make it go!"

Another time, the boys decided to take my can goods out of the cabinet.  They proceeded to roll them down the stairs, only after they took the labels off of them.  When I find this out, I am shocked to see about 10-12 cans, labels off, at the bottom of my basement steps.  Who the heck knows what is in the cans anymore?  For a long time after, it was a guessing game as to what was in the cans.  Is it corn? Peas? or Cream of Mushroom Soup?

Events like these, make me want to pull my hair out!  They make me want to run and hide...many times I question what I am doing wrong?  Am I not watching them closely enough?  Am I letting them get away with to much?  When it comes down to it, no I am not!  I can't control everything.  I cant prevent all events...But, I can let them be boys!

I have never been one to get all fired up about things like getting dirty, changing their clothes 100 times because they decided to jump in mud puddles, or watching them ride their skateboards down a hill into a pile of sand.  What is the point?  If they are dirty, they are happy.  If they are wet, it means they explored.  If they rode into a pile of sand; they have made a memory!  These are the things they will remember.  They are the events that mean the most!  Holes in jeans, dirt of face, sand in shoes...means life is good!

Raising boys is so much harder than I ever expected.  It really challenges you as a parent.  Obviously, as a girl, I do not understand their thinking.  I do not relate to them at all.  But it is days like this morning that get me through.  I woke up to Blake saying, "Stay in bed Mom, we have a surprise for you."

My rowdy boys took the time to make me breakfast in bed!  4 pieces of cold, buttered toast, a peanut butter and jelly, and cold coffee!  How could this not warm your heart?  How could you be mad about the gallon of milk getting ruined? Because at the end of the day, they are my life.  They are my happiness, they are what gets me up every morning to messes I can't control.  I am so blessed to have them in my life, blessed that call ME Mom!

Looking forward to another hectic day in Pickford,

Shelby