::thoughts on boys and raising them::

she stacks the blocks neatly. i can see her mind turning as she imagines they are food for her long neck dinosaurs. he sees her progress from across the room and the desire for mischief overcomes him. he makes his way to her, destruction on his little mind.

craaaaaash!!!
followed by a scream of utter disappointment in work unappreciated.

malice is not the cause.
mischief is the culprit.
he craves it like a newborn babe for milk.

he is my second born, a son. god knew i needed a passive child to pave the way so he gave me eisley first. the one that understands logic and reason. the one that responds to the famous eyebrows-up-mommy-look that demands obedience.

but this one, my second born, he will take the world by storm. he's the game changer. he's my all or nothing passionate little boy. he's the love you hard kind. he's the chatty one- starting the day with a request for cheerios and ending it with a request for one more minute. he's the thumb sucker. the snuggler. he's the guitar player. he's the singer. he's the lover of his baby sister and the admirer of the older one. he's a loner. lover of cars, trains and dinosaurs. a true daddy's boy.

now to figure out how to harness that passion without stifling it.

1. give him an outlet.

with tons of energy and words this little one must have a way to get it all out. if he doesn't his energy takes on the form of aggression and that is when the chaos begins. he becomes my demolition man, destroying anything and anyone in his path. we spend as many hours as possible at play.

play-dough:: he loves to drive his cars through it and over it.
moon sand:: uses this as land for his dinosaurs
toy lawn mower:: he will pretend mow nearly the whole yard
pool:: jumping and swimming is a great energy zapper.
sandbox:: creating sand castles takes a lot of work.
bike riding:: can't do that without effort
vacuuming:: he loves to do it so i let him
hide and seek:: lots of running and screaming
trips to the park:: new things to climb demand extra energy
wrestling with daddy:: that's his favorite

2. give him attention.

in our home our little man is in the middle of two little princesses. each day i look for ways that he and i can have some one-on-one interaction if only for a short time. we pull out the play-dough and he loves for me to make spaghetti. it's probably because i sing my own version of beyonce's bootylicious- i don't think you're ready for this spaghetti. he giggles and begs for more.

3. give him words.

this one loves to chat. it amazes me how many words he says per day. he never. stops. talking. it's so easy to tune out chatty toddlers when trying to accomplish daily tasks. however, i constantly remind myself that he will not do this forever. i hope he does. i hope he always wants to chat with mommy. but i have prepared myself for the possibility that he won't and so i cherish the words he lavishes upon me. i respond to his questions. i ask him questions. we talk. we know each other through words.


this is my journey with a fiesty little boy and how i'm learning to meet his needs.
how do you let your boy be a boy?