M.O.B….

Growing up in a family with ONLY girls (except for my dad) to now having a family where I’m the only girl has been nothing short of a shock. I think the worse thing my sisters and I did to cause ruckus was giving each other the silent treatment…which ironically enough wasn’t very ‘ruckus-like’ at all. I’m pretty sure my mum has some great stories about parenting us, but for some reason, I think having boys takes you onto a different path of parenting…not better, not worse, just different.

Here some things that I wouldn’t give up about being a mom of boys…

1. The never-ending compliments – I’d like to think that my boys haven’t caught on to the benefits of flattery yet and so I accept every ‘You are so smart, ‘I like your hair that way’, ‘Those pants are so cool’, ‘You’re the best cook ever’ and so many more, with an open heart.
2. Speaking of cooking, everything I cook is delicious – Unless of course, my mum happens to cook the exact same meal for them and then my cooking really isn’t as delicious at all. That’s why I stick to ‘western’ dishes and leave the ‘West Indian’ dishes to the pro. Hey…a girl’s got to pick her battles 😉
3. Dancing with no judgement – My boys don’t care if I look like a complete and utter idiot while dancing with them. They actually try to top it! Imagine that?! But in doing so, I’m teaching them that it’s ok not to take yourself too seriously (don’t you just love how I can take a bad thing and make it good)
4. I learn from them – Life’s a lesson and sometimes they’re the teacher. From being schooled on the who’s who of super heroes to being educated on who’s Team Marvel vs. Team DC Comics (did I get those squads right?) to being taught how to properly dribble and shoot a basketball…every once in a while they get to really, really teach an adult (sometimes complete with pop quizzes). I should add…their patience with me is remarkable!
5. I’m less uptight – Trust me, I fought hard on this one before relinquishing. But I’ve accepted that certain things just are what they are. There will always be balls in the house (asking them to move ‘their balls’ to the garage is usually met with fits of laughter and giggles…hmmm), there will always be cuts and bruises, there will always be bikes and scooters on the front porch, there will always be holes in their pants, my throw pillows will be frequently thrown (but isn’t that what they’re for mom?) – there will always be things where, as much as I would prefer the opposite, in that very moment, that very act reassures me that they’re happy, growing, healthy kids.

Which leads me to the one thing I would give up about being a ‘M.O.B’ (got that?) – I would give up that panicked feeling that I get when I hear silence and I know the boys are awake. That feeling is never fun! NEVER!

Oh…that and the pee everywhere. On many occasions I’ve contemplated having the boys pee in the backyard so that my bathrooms could remain clean for 1 hour (on this front I have terribly low expectations). The only thing that has held me back is that I’m pretty sure they’d love it and want to do it all the time.

Note to reader: ‘the boys’ as mentioned in the paragraph immediately preceding this note refers to my sons, not The Captain (happy Rob? :))