Friday, February 3, 2012

Boys

I've had a few people ask me lately how I feel being surrounded by boys and men. Our house must be testosterone city, they say. Wouldn't I like to adopt a girl this time? NO WAY!! First of all, I have two daughters (ages 28 and 21), and parenting them was NOT FUN. I simply have no tolerance for drama. In fact, I don't even "get" the constant need to create a crisis over every little thing. Our boys fight regularly, and then it's over and done. I am also extremely direct and honest, and I was constantly hurting my daughters' feelings. Do you think these pants make me look fat? Yes, as a matter of fact they do. Maybe you should cut back on the carbs. Our boys seem to appreciate that mom won't lie to them, just to spare their feelings. When I tell them they performed beautifully in a competition (martial arts), they know I am not just trying to make them feel good. I am just not that kind of a mom. In fact, when David first met me (I was a widow), he said that one of the things that he found attractive is that I am not a "namby-pamby" mom. We were at Holiday Valley Ski resort, and I was telling the kids, "Meet me at 3:00. And  I mean 3:00, not 3:05 or 3:10. Now, tell me, what time are we going to meet?" The only bad thing about having a house full of boys is that I am the only one who is disgusted when, inevitably, someone at the dinner table passes gas. Everyone else in the house finds anything related to flatulence highly amusing. Even the word flatulence, or fart, will send them into hysterics.  I've learned to just ignore it. Boys will be boys.