Boys!

Thanks to my "Little Sister" Kate, I was reading my first issue of Wonder time magazine when I saw it - the article that would bring me to tears (laughing that is!). The title:

boy, oh boy,

oh boy, oh boy,

oh boy! a mom of

5 sons tells all

Now this woman (Jacquelyn Mitchard) is already my hero! Apparently she has survived, so there is hope for me!! I knew I was going to like her when I read the tag line on the first page:

"Raising five (five!) sons! It's not pretty. But it is pretty great."

And here are some of my favorite parts of the article:

"Don't try to mess with me. I'm the equivalent of a 30-year beat cop or a career fighter pilot. I have five sons." (My version right now is wrestling referee and boot-camp platoon leader.)

"You can raise your son as a Quaker, a vegan or a pagan; he's still going to fight with his brother over an unused pen cap as thought it were the Star of India." (In my house it is anything that has to do with wheels or petrified food!)

In reference to the Y chromosome....."I'm heavily invested in that Y. My life without my sons would be a haven of peaceful and predictable days and nights. Who wants that? My daughters make sense. My sons make nonsense."

And finally my favorite....

"I love my boys for their pure sense of mayhem."

(You mean it is not normal for three 2 year olds to run around the house, taking off their clothes, while eating a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread that they found on the counter, by moving the bench from the kitchen table over to the sink! In the 3 minutes it took me to take out the trash?!? Oh and did I forget to mention that they got into the kitchen, from the gated family room, by standing on a play bus that allowed them to scale the knee wall.)

Thank you Jacquelyn Mitchard for giving me a sense of normalcy! I will keep in mind the comment about window screens being used as front doors for the next 10 years!!

Parker, Preston and Peyton are already a force to be reckoned with - but these are also the boys that will allow their big sister to dress them up like princesses and gymnasts (Preston looked like the strong man in the circus!)! This is also the force that will go into her room every morning to wake her up - Preston will snuggle under the covers, Parker will jump on the bed and Peyton will tap her on the head, if it is already not under the covers!! They may not always be friends, but I know deep down that they will always love each other. (Sound familiar Uncle Dan!)