oh em gee. boys are ridiculous, right? i mean exhausting. mine are 4 and 6 and seem to never run out of gas.
i don’t know about the rest of you mamas, but sometimes i feel like i’m navigating a foreign world as i’m raising my boys. heck, just trying to be a mom feels like that sometimes. and then raising a gender i can’t always relate to? talk about a challenge. don’t get me wrong, i couldn’t imagine it any other way – but i honestly didn’t think i’d be feeling like such an outsider sometimes.
it didn’t really start until i had two boys. one, yeah, i could handle that. and remy was still young when we had felix. remy loved to wrestle, but he was small. totally manageable. (well, there was that time he dislocated his elbow…alone in his crib). then felix came. all was still good for a while. remy would let felix climb all over him. he was so gentle with his little brother.
it all changed when felix was about two. the wrestling got bigger. the games became more destructive and dangerous. and they were always running. literally. i realized then that they are either sleeping or running, there’s no in-between. it continues today. they just have to go full speed. even if it’s coming in for a hug – they can knock me down. i have to brace every time.
i actually love their passion for it all. talk loud. run everywhere. play hard. but i just don’t get it! i’m clearly not built quite the same way. i mean, i have to walk out of the room sometimes when they are playing. i understand they’re more physical – but i just can’t wrap my head around it. why do they need to push the limits so much? why do they need to see how close they can get to getting hurt? why do they not even think about the getting hurt part? i do understand that it’s part of their being. so i just can’t watch.
i can’t tell you how often i’m explaining what *could* happen if they continue doing what they are doing. blank stares all around. i mean, it’s my job to teach them and i’ll continue to try, but i know they just need to test it out and learn for themselves. just hoping the inevitable resulting injury isn’t too bad.
my husband definitely relates to them a bit more. he can hang with their increasing strength and crazy wrestling moves (barely, though…), i think he appreciates the physical play and the outlet it provides him. but their intensity pushes even his limits.
i would totally love to hear how you support & guide your boys, their physicality and help keep them in one piece! for me, i give them space. i let them try things unless it’s a really bad idea, and i’m there if it doesn’t work out so well. i also keep my own strength up. i swear i work out just so i can balance the strength my kids bring at me on a daily basis.
here’s to doing everything we can to keep up with our boys. gotta stay strong, rest up and you know, coffee and wine!
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