Let Them Be Boys – Hose

I always thought I would be a girl mom.  Even though I had two brothers the thought of raising boys was foreign to me.  Until . . .

Until, I held my sweet Sam in my arms for the first time.  Until I looked into Will’s wild eyes.  In those moments I knew that I was meant to be their mom.  I was meant to be a mom of boys.

They are my chaos.  Shaking up my carefully balanced world.

But I realized on a recent trip to Indiana that all too often I try to control their wild.  I try to calm the chaos.  The boys were outside in their grandparent’s back yard.  A huge yard.  One you can run in and roll in the grass in and dig in the dirt in.  One you can find rocks, and sticks, and worms and bugs in.  One you can imagine great adventures in.  One you can really be a BOY in.

Wide. Open. Spaces.

And all of a sudden I heard myself.  “Stop running.” “Be careful.” “Don’t do that.” “No!” “Stop!” I realized right then that even though I embrace these boys with every bit of my being I still find it hard to let them be boys.  At that moment I vowed that I would do better.  That I would let them have time to be wild (in safe environments).  That I would embrace the loud (sometimes).  That I would laugh at the mess instead of cringe (every once in a while).  That I would say yes instead of no.  That I would let them be boys!

So a project is born.  A life project.  A challenge to let go.  And to celebrate these two little miracles who are so much a part of me.  Welcome to the first “Let Them Be Boys” post.  I hope you enjoy the wild as much as I do!

(Credit to Matt for capturing some of these pictures as the boys chased me around the yard with the hose!)