Monday, February 23, 2009

I'm Outnumbered

My sister and I live in different worlds. Along with having two girls of her own, she watches my brother’s 3-year-old daughter. She spends her days helping my nieces find a purse that coordinates with their princess shoes and getting Barbie’s house ready for a fabulous pool party.









I’m sure it’s extremely annoying to hear Hannah Montana say she is going to save the world for the millionth time, but least I can relate to girly stuff. After becoming the mother of two boys, I’ve soon discovered that there are certain things I don’t get. This verse of an Offspring song, Come Out And Play, sums it up:





Hey—man you talking back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep ’em separated.





Most days I anxiously wait for Ethan to ask James, “You want to wrestle?” What starts out as a playful tussle turns into a free for all. It doesn’t stop until I yell, “Time Out! You, family room! You, kitchen—and I mean NOW!”
You would think that getting the crap beat out of him by his big brother would make James choose a different activity, like play dough or trains. But as soon as he catches his breath, he hurdles himself headlong into Ethan, vainly trying to knock him over. I guess that’s because, according to James’ preschool teacher, boys learn to “communicate” with each other through physical interaction.
Whatever the theory, after 30 minutes refereeing, my left eyelid starts twitching and I begin counting down the seconds until it’s appropriate to have a glass of wine.
Leave it to a man to find a better way to deal with all this testosterone-fueled aggression. My husband recently came up with this ingenious game for the boys to play. One stands at the top of the stairs and rolls a ball down to the other, who tries to catch it with a garbage can. Turn-taking, hand-eye coordination, gross-motor skills—it’s all there. Has he been watching Noggin between client meetings at work?

It irks me a little that I didn’t think of the game. But, no matter. On days when balls whiz past my head, and my living room has turned into an impromptu wrestling ring, I'll take all the help I can get. Right, Molly?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a good idea, the boy has to wait until the husband gets home to wrestle because baby girl doesn't appreciate being mauled.

Shalet said...

Well I have two girls and a boy. We still have wrestling matches around here. Only someone typically ends up crying at the end.

For me it is weird to have teen boys streaming through my house. I look up and think "how did this happen?!!"

Stat Mama said...

Heh. It's the girly stuff I can't relate to, and I have the most girly princess ever in the history of mankind!

Kathleen said...

Boys will be boys. It's so funny how quickly they live up to their stereotypes. The girls at D.'s preschool all chat, the boys all chase each other it truly is built in. Cool game may have to try that one when the girl is asleep. Any other cool games your hubby is coming up with?

Kathleen W. said...

I used to love wrestling with my 4 brothers (not all at once), but I know my mom wanted to kill us at the end, usually after we knocked something over. I have a feeling that if we have another baby, it'll be a boy, so we may have some of those wrestling sessions in our house. For now it's just us and the baby, who loves being tossed around. I think he'll be a physical kid too.

Tiffany said...

Being a mom to boys means that you view things differently. One time I took the girls to the rec center (like we always do) and there was a boy birthday party playing in the mat room (where we play). Watching these boys play almost gave me a heart attack. I was waiting for someone to stop them but they kept going with the moms and dads watching them. Boy am I glad I have girls.

Maude Lynn said...

Why are children oblivious to the twitchy eyelid? That's what I want to know!

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

Whoa...your cat looks exactly like a cat I had (that is now living at my parents)...totally weird. Anyhooo....I know what you mean. I worry about how I will handle Jonathan when he gets older and is doing all those crazy boy things. When I was pregnant with him I kept hoping it was a girl because I would know what to do with a girl, But then as it got closer to having him, I didn't care either way and knew I'd love the baby no matter....and I do...just sometimes...I worry, :-)

Cookie said...

That is a good idea! I can totally relate. I grew up with 4 sisters. No brothers. Now I have 2 boys and no girls. I'm lost! But sometimes, I like being the only princess ;)

bernthis said...

I have to say I am a much better mom for a girl. Which is great, since that is what I have. I am too delicate for to wrestling