I've Arrived

I love this picture.  Buddy and his friends wanted to "rock climb" on our hike in Sunriver a few weeks ago.  Little Sambo always wants to do what his big brother does, so he has learned to either keep up get left behind.  And he can most definitely keep up.  (Click to Enlarge)

It's 3:06 in the afternoon and I'm sitting on the couch. The sun is shining and it's in the upper 70's. What a lovely day! But the best part of my day is the silence in this house. G just drove away with both boys headed to the annual Fathers and Sons campout. 

I get 24 hours of solid peace and quiet.

I've said over and over that I really love having boys.  But today I've decided I LOVE having boys.   Nothing better than having boys during the Fathers and Sons campout, if you know what I mean.

I've noticed that I've hit a few milestons in the last week or so mostly involving my mothering boys.

We were driving to t-ball the other night and out of the blue Buddy asked me, "Why do I have these little balls?"  I was driving, so I couldn't turn around to see what balls he was pointing at.  "What balls?" I asked, assuming he was talking about baseballs, since we were headed to practice, after all.  "These balls by my privates," he said.

And that's how Buddy learned a little bit more about the birds and the bees.  I told him that "those balls" will help him make a baby when he's a dad.  I gave up skirting around the issue a few months ago and I now I just tell him the truth.  He's been asking tons of questions like that lately, and every time it royally throws me for a loop.

Here's my question now:  How come I'm always the one to have to teach him this stuff?  A few years ago G agreed to be the one to teach our boys, since they are boys and all.  Yet, every time Buddy has a question, G is at work, so he asks me.  I guess I better get real used to this.

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That same drive took us to a very rainy t-ball practice.  I mean torrential rains, flooding the parking lot, sort of rain.  I haven't used an umbrella since I cared about my hair in junior high, so it's saying something about the rain when I ransacked my trunk for an umbrella.  I was miserable for the first little while, but then I realized how happy the little t-ball players were splashing around in the rain and the mud.  Isn't it every boys' dream to play in the rain?  The boys were happy and I thought, I've really arrived at motherhood sitting here watching my son play ball in the rain. 

* * *

Last week Buddy had his Kindergarten music concert.  He didn't go to preschool, so this was his first school performance.  We were all really excited for him, and he was happy to have us there.  Trouble was, I had to take Sambo out after the first song.  And for reasons you wouldn't expect.  He had wicked gas!  I mean, it was so horrific, the poor 4-year old in front of us was plugging his nose.  Sam gets gas quite a bit, but this was just unreal and was extremely embarrassing.  So after offending the families around us, I decided the right thing to do was to take Sambo far, far away from everyone else. 

I'd definitely say I've arrived at motherhood with boys when the quality of my evening involves how bad their farts are.

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I should also mention that I've also recently arrived at middle age.  I started listening to books on CD.  I know, lots of people do it, but it just seems so lame to be riding along in the car listening to a book, rather than jamming to the top 40.  Or heaven forbid, actually talking to your passengers.  But, I'm now addicted and plan to borror some kid-friendly books on CD from the library, so they can listen in now too.  What's next?  I'm going to start eating dinner at 4:30?

Oh wait!  I've started doing that too.  I feed my family dinner pretty late, and I've always liked that.  However, the other day the boys went to a birthday party, so G and I decided to have a quick child-free dinner.  I realized that the service at a restaurant is way better at that hour and now I'm totally converted to eating with the geriatric crowd.  In fact, a few days later I had to leave for a function at 5:00, which meant either eating at 4:30, or waiting until 9:30 when I got home.  In my past life I would have never taken the early road, but I tried it again, and loved it.

* * *

Oh, and one more exciting piece of news:  I learned to grill.  G taught me and I've succeeded twice this week.  I love cooking, but the grill has always intimidated me, so we could only eat grilled food whenever G is around to cook, which is pretty much only on the weekends.  Well that's all changed now!  Yay me!