Boys, Boys, Boys!!!

“And Boys will be boys…” I never knew exactly what that meant until having one of my own! Wow, they are scary… how do we mom’s not have heart attacks caused by the stunts they pull! As most of you know, our first child is our daughter Sophia (now 5). Lots of drama … but naughtiness? Not so much! Our middle child, our son Dylan, is nearly 3 and keeping us on our toes! Thankfully, for his sake, he was born with an innate charm. He already knows the exact right moments to turn it on. I say that if God didn’t give him the award winning smile, the eyes with the looks that melt a mother’s heart, and the skills to know when to sweet-talk and charm his “dear mommy”… he’d be sold off to the gypsies by now!  Mother’s with little girls… watch out in the future…. Dylan is the type of boy that can win-over any girl’s heart!  

 

I never understood until I had a son of my own… boys require an exorbitant amount of patience! This little boy that we have has managed to get himself into more trouble and precarious situations than I would have guessed a 2 year-old could manage. 

 

First off the kid was crawling by 6 months! Never did we enjoy that month of pure bliss that I remembered with my Sophia, when she would just sit and play but couldn’t move. No way… Dylan was crawling before he sat! We thought a crawling 6 month old was bad… how about a running 10 month old! Yes, of course this involved splitting his eyebrow open, and countless other gashes on his head. Climbing out of the crib at just over a year, yes, we have a monkey on our hands! The guy scales everything in the house. He can ride bikes, scooters, and roller-skate as well as anyone two times his age. He manages all the playground equipment as if it’s his terrain for dare-devil sport training; or it's quite likely he's a super-hero in the making! 

 

Boys… the physical energy that Dylan has astounds me. He’s full of it and it must be expended or it’s just plain bad news! O.k., but beyond all the physical aspects of being a boy…   how about the trouble-making aspect!!!?? Last week after putting him to bed I heard him running from his room to the kitchen. I go to check on him and there he lays in bed with cookies stolen from the kitchen in both hands and crumbs all over his bed. The next day, he grabs a marker and does a mural of back-hoes and bulldozers on his wall during naptime; as well as some body-art. The minute he gets in trouble he just tilts his head and flutters his eyelids while giving me that flirty smile with his little apple cheeks.  How can I possibly keep my smile hidden as I attempt to discipline!

 

Yesterday, after being up all night with the baby, I thought I’d take it easy and plop a movie in for the two older kids and snooze for a bit with baby Liv. While drifting off into la,la land I heard the pitter patter of little feet running up and down the hallway. After a few trips I mumbled “Dylan, what are you doing?”. “I’m just building a fire pit, Mommy.” Was Dylan’s response. “Oh” I drowsily thought to myself as I drifted further off… then I thought, wait a minute… A FIRE PIT!!! “WHAT” I yelled jumping off the couch, scaring poor Livi from her slumber. There sat Dylan with a tin foil cupcake holder with holes cut in the bottom of all the cups and a stack of matches, along with two full boxes of matches, and a match in his hand he was trying to light! Great, I can just read the headlines… “Over exhausted mom falls asleep while 2 year old makes a bonfire in the living room!” 

 

I make a mental note, o.k….. everything MUST be child-proofed and he is not allowed to be alone - EVER! Well, today I was chatting with a friend in the dining room, a few feet away from the living room where the kids were playing, and Sophia (5 year old daughter) comes in to tell me that Dylan got into my friend’s purse and by the way “What’s this?” as she holds out an asprin. My heart sinks and I run to the living room. Dylan had taken a permanent marker and drawn back-hoes and bulldozers again all over his tummy, his pants, and his arms along with his artist’s signature "LOL" (he says he spelling D..Y…L…A….N, but it’s always written LOL which is just fitting for our “Lots of Laughs Dylan!”.)  Oh, and yes, you guessed it… there’s an open pill bottle and white residue all over Dylan's chin. Child-proof… yeah right! Sophia tells me he was “melting them and sticking them on his arms”. I’m guessing that means he was licking them and creating more body-art but with sticky asprins. I asked Dylan if he ate any, and he insists, "No!"…. but of course, a trip to the ER is necessary. 

 

On the way to the hospital he continues to answer with a “NO” when I ask him a million times in a million different ways if he ate the medicine. But then when I ask him what he did with it he tells me “I just ate it kinda.” “You just ate it kinda?” I repeat back to him… “Yes, just kinda.” he repeats. “Did you eat the medicine, Dylan?” I continue to interrogate him.  “NOOOO!” he yells back.  Who knows, certainly not me! We sit at the ER for four hours until they can do the blood test and thank God all comes back perfect!  Of course the doctors and nurses all adore Dylan, as he wins everyone over with that smile.  One nurse asks if she can take him home... I actually find myself contemplating it for a split-second.  I say a prayer of thanks and load my trouble making boy back into the car at 11pm, along with his baby sister. As I look at his sweet face sound asleep in the car, it seems impossible that such a lovebug  of a boy can get into so much trouble. Again, I thank God that my beautiful son is fine, and I pray for wisdom and guidance in parenting this son - and more importantly, for the protection of a thousand angels over my boy who seems to thrive on living dangerously. I’ve enjoyed my conversations with many of you about the difference between your sons and daughters, and I pray the same for all your sons too!