Little Boys

What are little boys made of?
"Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"

As this blog site makes it very clear, I grew up with mostly girls around me. My brother JB is 8 years older than me and he is a very nice brother. So in reality, I grew up with practically no idea about boys. I knew hair bows and clothes and crying and hormones. So when I learned I was having a boy (my second) I had no idea what to do with him. How was I going to take care of something I had no idea about. The good thing is, you learn one day at a time. You learn to look at bugs, to throw balls, to allow little hands and faces to get dirty all in the name of discovery. One thing I have learned very quickly is a little boy needs to wrestle. I told my husband the most important thing he can do in a day is to wrestle our son. He is an obedient husband, so when he gets home he gets on the ground and wrestles for a while. When he has had a busy week and hasn't had much time for the kids, my son starts to drive me bonkers! Then I realize he hasn't wrestled for a while. I laughed the other day when both my daughter and son wanted daddy's attention. In one hand Jaron was holding Vienna and lovingly rubbing her and cuddling her. In the other hand he was wrestling, tickling, pushing, shoving, all things involved in wrestling with Clark. It was obvious that girls and boys needed affection from their dad in different ways.

We often play with a family in our ward. They have a girl whose Vienna's age, 5 years old. Clark, who is four, is often found bothering her. He hits her, chases her, takes her things, all things annoying. Most of our play-dates consist of her coming and telling me what Clark is doing to her. I came home one time so frustrated. In the car I yelled, "Clark, why can't you just leave her alone?" This is his honest answer, "I don't know. I just love her and want to marry her!" I laughed so hard we are lucky that we got home safely. And so it begins. Boys of all times have shown their affection towards girls by being little pests. I love the movies Anne of Green Gables. Near the first of the series Gilbert ends up pulling Anne's braids. Later we find out he wanted her attention and liked her, so why be so mean?

The other day I went and visited my cousin who is visiting from back east. She has kids my kids age, so we have a lot of fun. Her oldest had pulled out all of the doll toys and had set up the world's greatest nursery. Vienna was having a lot of fun. Soon I noticed the girls screaming. I looked over and both 4 year old boys were taking doll stuff and running away. Why? Why? Why is there something in boys that makes them bother the girls?

All I know is I love my little boy. With all of his roughness and toughness, he is my sweet little guy who gives me the biggest hug and tells me he wants to marry me when he grows up. I am glad I have the"Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails" in my life because Clark makes me very happy!