Within the first pages, Dobson sites a quote from Plato: “Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.” What?!!! So, it’s not my job as a parent to manage (i.e. control) my kids? Dobson uses words like audacious, excitable and TORNADO to describe them. He also references “their tendency to risk life and limb for no good reason” and that they “tempt the laws of gravity and ignore the gentle voice of common sense.” Great. But Keith thinks it’s AWESOME and that this combo is the perfect recipe for motocross stars in the making.
As a dear friend often reminds me, boys are “fearfully and wonderfully made” just as they are.
Let’s pause my soon-to-be real-life horror story for a moment.
This weekend when a friend walked in my door, I was at the sink doing dishes while Avery was at her little table folding washcloths and hand towels, a chore she’s been perfecting for the last 3 years. (By the way, she’ll be 4 tomorrow, and I can’t decide whether I’ll do a little dance to officially declare the end of the Explosive 3’s or cry because she’s already taking the attitude and tone of a teenager with me.) She wasn’t just folding towels to keep her little hands busy, and I don’t have to refold them before putting them in a drawer. That’s not something I can always say of the towels Keith folds. I’m just kidding. He’s not allowed to fold towels. (He is allowed to do the dishes and clean the bathrooms though. And, he does a way better job than I ever do!)
This moment will soon be a distant memory, like a dream. Not only did I complete my chores whilst my child was awake, but she quietly did hers as well. I almost hear symphony music in the background as I reminisce. What a glorious moment that will likely not happen EVER AGAIN once the boys get here.
My world, as well as my house, will likely be turned upside down. It will go from an environment that is generally quiet and calm to one that is loud and destructive. I will not have enough hands nor room in a buggy to take them to the grocery store or Target. The toys in the playroom will no longer be perfectly separated into organized bins and boxes. Gasp!
So, why am I so looking forward to the day we bring them home?
Love makes you do crazy things.
That’s really all the explanation needed, but I’ll go on.
Do you remember when you first fell in love with your spouse…or your baby? Because it’s not always love at first sight …with either of them. Just looking at him/her gave your tummy butterflies. And, you could gaze at him/her endlessly. You felt this person could do no wrong…ever. Again: Love. And, at least in the beginning love is blind. God does this to us on purpose. If we had seen all the imperfections that are later revealed, we probably wouldn’t have fallen into it in the first place. But isn’t falling in love worth every blemish?
There will be days when I very much do not like what they do. And maybe even days when I think to myself that I dislike them too. But, oh, how I will love them.
I am head-over-heels in love with these two boys. My Boys.
Jessica, I laughed all the way through this post. As the mother of one 5 year old boy, I can testify to the TORNADO description. Luke will tear through the house, clothed with nothing but spiderman underwear...with nunchucks tucked into the front "pockets" and a sword stuck through the back. He'll fly across the room to tackle imaginary "bad guys" and then in a flash he'll be crawling on the floor and barking because he's a puppy.
ReplyDeleteBut the sweetest thing in all my life is when he snuggles up to me on the couch and tells me he wants to marry me when he grows up.
Little boys are definitely made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails - but to be the mother of a boy is such a sweet blessing.
I'm praying for you - and I can't wait to hear about it!
OH how I can't wait until your boys come home!!! You are going to LOVE having boys- they do destroy everything in sight- but they will be so tightly wrapped around your finger that you won't even care. And don't worry- they might pretend they are pirates, or superman, or army men- but they will do it all while running around with a pair of Avery's princess shoes on their feet. :)
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