Do you have a friend who just found out she is expecting a boy and isn’t sure quite what to think?
That’s how I felt four years ago when I brought Boy #1 home from the hospital. I grew up with four girl cousins and two sisters. (And, not to be forgotten, one brother, but he was ten years older than me). I liked painted toenails and long walks on the beach. 🙂 I went to every football game my high school ever played (thank you, marching band) and still managed to graduate without understanding football. What did I know about boys?
I’ve learned a LOT about little boys in the last few years. It has been baptism by fire over here, but I love it! Next time a friend of yours finds out she is expecting a BOY (?!?), point her to this list of 18 reasons being a mother to boys will be one of the best things you’ll ever do!
1. Boys are adorable in boxer briefs. If the morning is off to a rough start, I put the boys in boxer briefs and let them run around for a good while. I can’t help but laugh whenever they try to talk to me seriously while wearing them!
2. My boys, at least, could differentiate between almost every vehicle on the road (truck, van, tractor, bus) before they could consistently identify their colors.
3. Boys could sit and stare at a parked fire truck for half an hour without moving. (We do this whenever a fire truck parks at the nearby grocery store!)
4. Boys love trains. Mine will happily chill in their carseats if we’re sitting in the parking lot of a train station. I can catch up on work-related phone calls, and they munch some goldfish and eagerly anticipate the train. It’s a win-win!
5. As a general rule, emotional drama is minimal, or at the very least, short-lived. I remember the first time a visiting little girl (less than two years old!) hid behind our couch with hurt feelings. At first I was sure she had been hurt, because my boys would never hold onto their feelings for that long. They tend to move on fast.
6. Along those lines, boys tend not to hold grudges.
7. They can stand up to do their toilet business, which is especially nice in public restrooms.
8. On a roadtrip, it’s easy to pull over and let them go potty in the middle of nowhere. (Unfortunately, they may also get the idea that this is appropriate at the local park, so beware!)
9. Dad gets to be on bathroom duty more often when you have a boy. It just feels more natural for me to send my sons into public restrooms with their dad, when we’re all together. I don’t mind the break!
10. Boys can be endlessly entertained by online videos along the lines of “There’s a crocodile in my pool!” (Parental involvement advised anytime YouTube is involved!)
11. Boys growl. Instinctively. It can get pretty funny.
12. Boy screaming is a bit lower pitched than girl screaming. I hear girls screaming in fun at the park and am shocked at how loud and high it sounds to my ears. (Even though I am plenty accustomed to boy screaming!)
13. Boys love, love, love tools. (And flashlights!)
14. Boys will grow to be recreational companions for Dad. I am banking on them being much better skiing and surfing companions for their dad than I am!
15. Boys will save you a lot of money on clothes (though probably not on food!). Because super cute boy clothes are not as abundant as super cute girl clothes, most of us boy mamas tend to buy less, which saves money and space in storage.
16. Even toy shopping for boys is fairly simple. Most little boys like to build, so buy a set of big wooden blocks, a couple sizes of legos, and a set of train tracks. Throw in some cars and balls, and you’re good to go!
17. Boys need a lot of physical exertion, so you will burn a ton of calories chasing them around at parks or playing tag inside your house!
The other day my boys and I spent the better part of an hour seeing how much popcorn a spider web on our patio could hold. Then we spent the better part of another hour talking about how happy the spider was going to be when it came home to discover its web was full of popcorn. Which brings me to #18 . . .
18. Thanks to your boys, your life will become more hilarious and random than you ever could have imagined. And I think you’re going to love it.
Linked up with The Better Mom and Imparting Grace. Welcome to any new visitors!
I needed this! Lately, as I’ve been thinking about our future kids, I get anxious at the idea of having a boy. The girl in me sometimes just wants my life to be pretty and perfect with no messes or wrestling, so sometimes I need to be reminded that rough-and-tumble is fun!
Yes! You do have to brace yourself for more wrestling matches (supervised or otherwise!) and a few more messes, but it really is fun and hilarious if you have the right attitude! (Mine varies day by day. 🙂
Great post! I was anxious about having a boy, too. I grew up with a sister… Had no idea what to do with a boy! But, I have to say, I think I’d be anxious about a girl now!
I want a boy! After 2 girls I am ready. I am praying for one. We want to have one more. This post is so much fun!
I don’t have boys and still I loved this post. Being a girl momma has its advantages, too! But I’m kind of jealous about the staring-at-a-firetruck for half an hour thing. I’d bring a book and put my feet up.
I think I can agree with every one of those! It sure is fun and exciting to have boys and this makes me even more excited to have another! And SO true about saving money on clothes! Boys just wear pants and shorts. Girls wear leggings, skirts, dresses, rompers, shorts, pants, etc.
Oh, my, as a mom of two boys, all I can say is YES! Love your list. And did you mention the thrill of DIRT? Who needs gorgeous yards with boys? Just a bit of a mud puddle and they’re happy. Celebrating the boy world with you today! Glad to have “met” thru the Better Mom link up.
Blessings from Iowa!
I loved this. My boy is two and I love having him. I have a girl too, and she’s fun, but I wouldn’t trade my boy for the world. 🙂 Lauren, lholmes79.wordpress.com
I love learning from you! Great post and great ideas for Henry for the upcoming weeks/months/years. Unfortunately, #17 doesn’t quite apply for me. I seriously doubt there is any person, male or female, who can scream higher and/or louder than Henry. Seriously.
Haha that really is unfortunate! But at least his killer cuteness makes up for it! Thanks dear!
I grew up with a sister so the whole boy thing was foreign to me. While I don’t love all the potty humor and wrestling, I will admit I would much rather deal with that than drama and whining! Not that I don’t love my friends’ girls, its just now I am used to boys! The other day, my son spent a half hour standing in the rain outside our house watching some tree stumps being removed while I monitored him from the doorway. Talk about cheap entertainment!
-Shelley
Oh – and I loved your list!
-Shelley
I think you are an inspiring mom!
This is my FAVORITE post of yours to date! I have three boys {8,6,4} and I can totally relate to each and every single one of these. I can honestly say that {especially} each of your bathroom mentions have definitely crossed my mind more than once! I grew up with five brothers and no sisters, and parenting boys is definitely different than being a sister {I know that’s not a real word, but…} to them!
#1 is so true. One of my favorite memories of my boys when they were little was at my in-laws house when we strip them down for pajamas and they circle the house {inside, because they are in their birthday suits} in a cloud of giggles, child AND adult. It never gets old.
Hi!
Loved this post—with an almost 2 yr old boy I am learning about tractors, trucks, tractors, trucks, and often being corrected by him (after all, daddy teaches the real terms)! If you would ever like to join our community of supportive mommy linkers, I’ve started up a Faithfully Parenting Fridays linky party on my site. 🙂 Coming to you by way of Ashley (Southern Wife and Mama)…great recommendation!!!
🙂 Blessings, Michy
http://www.lovingourjourney.com/faithfully-parenting/
Thanks, Michy! This sounds like something I’d definitely be interested in! I’m hopping over now to check it out!
Being the mom of boys continues to be a wonderful thing. Of course, sometimes I wish I had a daughter, but I’m planning to be a fantastic mother-in-law. I LOVE my guys!
Stopped over from Richella’s post. I came from a house with all sisters, and now I am the mom of three boys. Talk about culture shock! I love this post though…everything you said is so true! The girl scream thing had me cracking up, because I always think how annoying all my friends’ little girls sound when they scream and squeal! I guess I’m just used to boys screams:)
Haha, it’s true, right?! I feel the same way, though I probably wouldn’t say so to my girlfriends! Glad you agree!
Thanks so much for commenting, Kelli!
Ethan growls ALL the time. He’ll “rawr” at his girl cousins to get them running around the house. I purposely keep a flashlight in my nightstand. He finds them and plays with them all the time. There are now 3 flashlights in there with dead batteries. 🙂 I’m on the same track as you and I love my boys. I want a girl next!
Loved this!! So sweet. As my boys get older, I am loving more and more being a mom to boys. My latest revelation is discovering that I have a built in pack of nerds/fanboys to become obsessed with nerdy things like Harry Potter, space, and Legos, just like me. It’s so fun introducing them to things that I have loved and then watching them fall in love with it too. My boys currently shoot spells at each other (correctly pronounced!), run into the wall to catch the Hogwarts Express, and they love pretending to be dementors while the other shoots the patronus spell at them. Haha! So much fun. I’m sure girls are fun too, but I really do love having boys so far! Also I SWEAR I subscribed to your blog but none of these newer posts have been in my google reader!
Hello, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer,
it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a
quick heads up! Other then that, amazing blog!
You’re right, I do need this post! This makes me excited. I’m excited for Chad to have a little son to do recreational things with that I (and most likely Sierra) have zero interest in…hunting, shooting, camping, repelling, etc. Can’t wait to see the father-son relationship!
And also, my friend has a little boy Sierra’s age and he just takes OFF. I feel bad for her chasing after him all the time while Sierra is so much more tame! Maybe that is a boy thing. It will be fun to see all the little differences! I’m so lucky I’ll get to experience one of each! Thanks for this list.
I loved re-reading this and laughing in agreement at almost every single one of them. Things have changed since my last read: I have another boy, and another has moved up to underwear but we’re not to the standing stages. We have done our business in a fair share of neighborhood parks though. :/ The other one can point out cars, busses, and “mighty machines” but not a single color.
But it brought up a funny memory. At my grandma’s funeral last year, someone took a short video clip and you can hear a very distinct roar as my oldest was running down the aisle. I’m glad it was a small funeral!
This post in on point. You only forgot the love a boy shows to his mom. It’s completely different than the one they show to their dad. It is just pure adoration when my son looks at me!!
Thanks, Ida! It sounds like you have a pretty darn special boy! Have a great day!