I got pregnant for the first time before gender reveal parties were a thing, but my three close friends and my parents came to the ultrasound center when my husband and I found out the sex of our baby. It felt like a party. My dad even brought popcorn. The tech put the wand on my belly and moved it around in the warm gel. “It’s a boy!” she announced. There was a pause, then a trepidatious cheer. Everyone looked right at me to read my face. I feigned happiness and said, “It’s fine. Really!” But I was in shock. I never imagined I’d be raising boys.
The ultrasound experience for the second baby was different in some ways—fewer people and no snacks—but there was one similarity: another boy. Now here I am, 12 years later, convinced God knew what He was doing by making me a mom to boys. I didn’t expect it, but here are 7 things I secretly love about raising boys.
1. Watching Them Wrestle
Blame tween hormones, but roughhousing has kicked up a notch over the past year. I have to keep an eye out to make sure it doesn’t go too far, but there’s something fun about hearing squeals and seeing their arms and legs get tangled up. I always thought I’d find physicality to be an aspect of raising boys I’d just have to put up with, but it turns out I find it strangely heartwarming to watch my boys bond while one’s got the other in a headlock.
2. Their Clothes
If I had a daughter, I bet I’d love matching bows to dresses, but now that I don’t have to, I’m grateful it’s one less thing I have to worry about. The days we walk out of the house and my sons are wearing basketball shorts and t-shirts, I think, “Well, that was easy!”
3. Hugs
I love hugs, so it wasn’t surprising to me that I’d relish the ones I get from my kids. But something beautiful happens when a son hugs his mother, especially a boy who’s starting to grow up. It’s as though he’s dropping the cool guy act and you’re holding your little boy again.
4. Witnessing Them Grow Into Men
I’ve seen a little girl turn into a woman (me), but now I get a front row seat watching boys become men, and it’s fascinating. There will always be something mysterious about the opposite sex, but as mothers to boys, we’re in a unique position to understand men more deeply and intimately.
5. Their Size
My 11-year-old is only about half an inch shorter than me. He keeps saying he doesn’t want to outgrow me, but I’m looking forward to the day I look up to him, even if it’s while he’s still a fifth grader. My grandmother was five-foot-one and a mother of six boys. When I look at the photos of her with my dad and uncles, I think, “She’s got six bodyguards, but they all know she’s the boss.”
6. Their Sensitive Sides
My sons and I watched the first episode of The Hardy Boys series. I expected a fun mystery, but instead, 20 minutes in, I caught on to some foreshadowing. I said, “Uh oh. The mom’s gonna die.” I was right. We pressed through the rest of the episode, but my son curled up next to me on the couch and cried off and on. I didn’t think raising boys would put me in some emotionless void, but it’s a beautiful privilege to see my sons’ sensitive sides come out in art, while watching a movie, or in showing compassion for a classmate who’s sad.
7. Bathroom Humor
It’s just funny. When my boys make jokes or suspicious noises, I have to hold back laughter. I know girls can be just as gross, but I love not having to worry about raising a “proper lady.” Am I raising boys who to become gentlemen? Of course. Have I also strategically placed a whoopie cushion on a chair at the dinner table? You betcha.
What do you love about raising boys?
