Raising Boys...The Good, Bad, and the Funny

I was going through some pictures, and thinking about what was going on in them. Some of them really make me laugh. I'm talking about my kids, mostly my boys. I guess they are typical little boys, I don't really know. I was pretty young when I became a mother so everything, even now with my oldest about to be 13, is new to me. But anyhow, this hub is just to share the funny stories, the funny things they say that often make me speechless, and some funny pictures I managed to catch. I always have my camera ready, because you just never know what they're gonna do next.

I thought this Christmas would be a little easier because I was under the assumption my 2 oldest boys no longer believed in Santa Claus. They are 10 and almost 13. I really thought they just pretended to believe because they thought I still did. Christmas lists were made a few weeks before Christmas. My oldest, all he wanted was an MP3 player. That stayed the same, never changed. My 10 year old however, about a week before Christmas started questioning me about Santa. I of course told him if you believe in him, than he is real. I guess it didn't ease his curiosity because later that day he told me, "well I guess the internet can't lie Mom". I asked what he meant, and he replied, "well, I googled if Santa Claus was real, and Mom there are lots of people asking about Santa, but it says on there that he's real, and I guess the internet can't lie." That evening, his Christmas list went from a couple small items, to.....Dear Santa, I would like a Spy gear spy car, spy gear night vision goggles, a computer, a snake, an ant farm, a bug habitat, binoculars that take pictures, and the list goes on. So what did I do? I emailed that list to his father :)

Ethan, my 10 year old, sat on the couch the other day as I ran to my room to console my crying infant. When I came back into the living room carrying her and talking to her, he just shook his head, and this is the conversation that followed.

Me: What is that all about?

Ethan: That girl has cryin' powers.

Me: What do you mean she has cryin' powers?

Ethan: It means all she has to do is cry, and she gets whatever she wants. She gets held, she gets fed, she gets her diaper changed...........

(At that moment, I knew exactly what he was talking about, and thought to myself, yea, I used to have those  cryin' powers with your Dad until he figured out what I was doing lol)

Me: Aw..do you want me to change your diaper?

Ethan: (laughing) I don't wear diapers Mom. I'm just sayin', unless I'm hurt, cryin' doesn't get me anything. I miss when I used to get "holded" like that.

Now, when he said that, he was gigglin, so I laughed because I wasn't expecting that. But when I thought about it, it made me a little sad. Ethan has always been the one of my boys that likes to cuddle. I never thought that even at 10, it would make him sad that he didn't get "holded" anymore. So now, I try to make it a point to at least snuggle up on the couch with him to help him with homework, or watch one of his silly shows. Having an infant in the house consumes a lot of my energy, and attention, and I realize now I just have to try harder to not let my other children feel invisible.

On one of our trips to a nearby lake, my 9 year old, Andrew, was diligently digging in the sand with very small plastic shovel. My 10 year old, Ethan, went to bug him as usual, and asked what he was going to make. Andrew stopped and looked at him but I couldn't tell what he was saying. I could tell they were arguing about whatever was said, so I waited because I knew I would soon find out.  A few seconds later, Andrew sat up and turned to me and said, " Mom, ain't that right if you dig a hole all the way down you get to Chinese?" Ethan waited with a hand on his hip for me to prove his little brother was wrong, but I just said, " Yes Andrew, if you keep digging all the way down you get to Chinese."