Full Time Wife Life: Three on Thursday: Being a Boy Mom!

It's Thursday! One more day until Friday, or "one more sleep" as my kids would say!

There are about 5,000 different topics that I want to write about, and yet many of them can't come out in "story" form. So I can either wait for a random chance to share tidbits of my heart, or I can make it happen, so that's what I'm going to do. Introducing:

Three things I love, three things I've learned, Three RANDOM facts? Whatever the subject, I will share three peeks inside my life relating to it, and I invite you to share with me, in return! Being a wife, mom, sister, none of it's easy, and I always love reading bits and pieces about how other people "do life", and this is my chance to share in the fun.

So without further adieu, this week's topic is:

Being a BOY mom! I chose this as my starting point because, well, it is probably the most "out of my comfort zone" adventure in life. My older brother is 9 years older than me, and so I didn't really grow up around "boys". Flash forward to 2015 and I now have TWO of them! Haha. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. Here are my three tidbits about being a boy mom!

I realized in third grade that boys were just NOT fun, haha! I clearly remember being partnered with Andrew Dixon for a project on recycling and ALL he wanted to focus on was the dang recycling truck and not writing letters to these companies urging them to help me save the planet. HAHA. Bottom line - I am completely uninterested in playing with trucks, cars, action heroes, and dirt. Never have been, never will be. But that shouldn't stop me from 100% full out goofy playing with my boys. Kids know if you're playing for real or out of obligation. So instead of playing trucks and cars, I've forced myself to find a way to play with them in a way that we both enjoy. I want bonding to happen on both ends of the relationship, not just their end, and so I want to be on the floor goofing off, seeing their smiles, and them seeing mine. We play rodeo, bull riding, police, fire, rescue, ANYTHING that doesn't involve plastic cars and superheroes. Now looking at the future, I can't WAIT to go to the park and play ball with my boys. Maybe finding common ground as a "boy mom" is why God made me with a love for anything athletic. It's just a whole new world!
Watching my husband raise these two little guys and seeing where his heart is for them is something I never expected. I suppose I always imagined that he would be the tough love type with his boys, but he is so 100% in love with raising little men and he is so proud of each thing they do that gives us a glimpse of them growing into loving godly boys. This may not go over well, but I love being totally honest. Our prayer for our boys is not that they love their job, but that they love their families and desire to be husbands and fathers. We won't push ANY of our kids to go to college if they don't want to, or to find the perfect career. Secretly I hope they find some sort of physical job like my husband has and take pride in the work of their labor, all so that they love and appreciate the love and comfort of their family all the more. I hope they see that their Daddy's #1 love in life is his family, and that, although he love love loves his job, he wouldn't even list it on an "about me" form. I hope they grow up to just love a simple life full of hard work and a family to love. And a good woman. I'm prepping myself now to realize that the little dandelions wont always be for me.
Having boys has made me way way way less...uptight. Something about all of the "burp" and "hiney" talk has taught me to just go with it, and I will never ever ever forget the look on J's face when I goof off with him and pretend to puke or act like a slime monster. Yes, the whole time I'm wondering how the heck this will benefit him, yet at the same time, the look on his face and his full on giggle helps me realize that it is just totally a God thing. Who am I to deny the wild heart he was created with? We are just not created the same, and not only do we have to stretch ourselves within a marriage, but in parenting, as well. Loving someone just means that you sacrifice for them, and if I have to pretend that my cake batter is swamp goo being baked to turn into a sea snake, well, then eat up!