I’m sure most, if not all, of my friends who are moms or dads to boys have experienced something similar on more than one occasion.
So, being the only girl in our household I took that bracelet and decided to make a necklace to match. I didn’t use Legos though, instead I made a Living Locket out of my Origami Owl charms. Sometimes a girl needs a little sparkle.
As I finished my design and matched it to his, I realized how different being a ‘Boy Mom’ is from being a ‘Girl Mom’. I know there are exceptions to every situation but I also know that there are a lot more discussions about bodily functions and war in my house than any of my friends raising those precious little girls.
Being a ‘Boy Mom’ really is different from having all girls or even some of each. I find myself often thinking, ‘Did we really just have that conversation?’. I can’t believe the number of conversations that occur in our house about bodily functions, cars, Star Wars, Legos and Transformers. None of which did I do much with as a child. Sure, I had the Optimus Prime Transformer growing up but that was more because my dad was a truck driver. I didn’t watch the cartoons and there weren’t two 30 gallon totes full of them in my toys. Yes, you read that correctly, we have 2 totes full of Transformers. Who knew!
When we got pregnant the second time people asked if I wanted a girl since we already had a boy. My response was often, ‘sure, a girl would be nice but I kinda know what to do with a boy now and can you imagine Cory as a dad to a little girl!’ When we found out we were having another boy, I think a part of me was a little relieved. And thinking back on it now, I’ve saved tons of money on clothes having 2 boys and not only because they share clothes but also because they don’t care really about their clothes. As long as there is some sort of super hero or character on the t-shirt we are good.
I have realized other things as I hang out with my friends who have girls. Our houses are completely different. Boys don’t know many of the Disney Princesses and when there are only girls they don’t have conversations about Star Wars, Legos and Transformers. My house is very loud and pretty much everywhere we go gets a few decibels louder. I’m sure when they come to visit or we visit them it is kind of a sigh of ‘ahhh, it’s quiet again.’ when we leave.
Don’t think for a second that sometimes I don’t force my girly-ness on the boys. I made them watch the new Beauty and the Beast with me when we were on vacation. Neither wanted to watch it but I promised fighting and a beast! I don’t know if they would really admit it but they both watched intently and we had a great afternoon. Sometimes a momma needs a princess show.
I still love shoes and pretty, sparkly things. So, even though my days always entail some amount of playing with Legos, when I get a gift from Monkey that is a Lego bracelet, I take the opportunity to make a pretty necklace that sparkles to go with it. And I’ll admit, as we watch shows about Transformers, Legos and Dragons I now find myself oddly enough enjoying them and looking forward to the next episode. Sure, I can still recall the princesses from my childhood but now I couldn’t tell you any of the new ones unless I learn about them from friends. I had to ask at Christmas time what these Shopkins things were that a friend’s daughter asked for. And American Girl was never anything I had heard of in my life.
Things are different than I thought they would be with kids, but little boys have a very special place in a momma’s heart and I wouldn’t change it for a thing.
It’s all under control, just not by me. HE was in control when evidently I needed to have the love of two little boys in my life.