Ruminations on Raising Boys - Christmas Edition

I remember the very second that the doctor told me I was having a baby boy - I wasn't surprised. I knew I'd have a boy first. Strangely, the first thought that actually crossed my mind was, "Oh my god. I'm going to have three boys." I don't know why I thought that in that moment. But so far, I'm 2/3 of the way to fulfilling that destiny.

I love having boys. I love it - in a way and for reasons I can't quite explain. But, as a woman, looking in on them... I find raising boys, my future men,as fascinating as it is unfamiliar. As much as I love them and as much as I see myself in them, they are so different from me. We are so close - they were made from my body - but it is undeniable that woman and man can never fully know one another. So, I watch. I watch and I learn. I watch them find joy in balls, cars, trucks and trains. I watch them climb (on everything!) and run (to nowhere at all) and scream (for no purpose but to be loud) and laugh (at farts and burps). And I hope that - though ignorant to the way a man's mind truly works - I hope that I am serving them well on this path through life. I hope that they know that even though I don't know the rules to sports, that my hand-eye coordination for video games is non-existant, that I see no nutritional value in fried foods... I hope that they can feel love from a mother who sees beauty in all the things I don't understand.

And so, I present the beauty in raising boys... Christmas 2010...

Gingerbread Houses are for girls. We make Gingerbread Trains. Rock n' Roll!!!







And... by the way... who needs clothes when you've got a Santa hat and cartoons to keep you warm?



A handsome little man-to-be:



With Christmas only two days away, I envisioned the day spent making lots of Christmas cookies together with my boys. But, as always, Charlie saw things differently. As we made a ball of perfectly seasoned gingerbread dough... Charlie found alternative potential - a monster truck tunnel. Brilliant.