In the "Moms with Boys Club"

When I was young, well younger, I used to imagine what my family would be like when I was older. I pictured myself with several daughters. I could see us playing with dolls and toy horses, braiding various styles into our hair, shopping for dresses; my imagined list went on and on. You hear people sometimes describe themselves as good boy-mom or a good girl-mom. Well, I was for sure a girl-mom! I was a fairly moody teenage girl and I felt this would mean I could easily identify with my own girls’ problems. And let’s face it, girl clothes are so much cuter than boy clothes!


So here I am, six years into marriage, with three BOYS. Instead of dolls and dress-up clothes, the toys around my house are dragons, dinosaurs, trains, and light sabers. There is constant noise in my house. My husband and I even had to make a rule that there would be no roaring at the dinner table because the boys would not stop to eat!


But despite all the craziness that is associated with boys, there are a lot of great things about them:


• When we are on a hike and there is no restroom, it’s not a problem!
• I never have to blow dry their hair after a bath, in fact most of the time I don’t have to do anything to their hair at all!
• They generally don’t care about what they wear. I could dress them in plastic bags and I don’t think they’d complain!


I have noticed there is a secret club I now belong to – apparently it is the “Moms with Boys Club.” When I go to the store with my little guys I inevitably see another mom with only boys. It only takes a second to figure out we are in the same situation and instantly we are friends. Most of the time we don’t even have to say anything to each other, a smile and a knowing nod are enough. We are definitely comrades on this child-rearing journey.


One frazzled mother of two crying boys waited in the checkout line next to me the other day. I handed her two suckers from my purse and she smiled and asked, “Does it get any easier?”


“Definitely,” I lied.


Sometime in the next few years I will try for another baby and perhaps I will get my wish for a baby girl, but for now I’m happy living in the chaos and commotion that comes with three boys!