Raising a "Goonie"

Today, during a perfectly peaceful 30 min. of my day, I lounged outside and read, while cradling my new little boy, asleep on my lap. Suddenly, a shout of joy distracted me from my quiet reveries. Three young boys charged out of our woods, holding nets, a bucket, and all the thrill of an adventure in their chubby hands. They were all shouting about a "freaking big one" that was a real "heap huger" than anything they had ever seen. Soon, two of the boys returned to the woods, while the third remained to guard their prisoners. As the two ran off, one yelled, "Come and tell us anything we're missing . . . or just shout it." [Since that's a good option when you go to run behind the house with the "It's a boy!" balloons out front--but little boys don't naturally register social niceties like that.] Well, boy #3 (who looked and sounded just like Chunk from "The Goonies") took the second option, and I was the unseen audience to a blow by blow rendition of how a giant crawdad ate their newt, which unfortunately had been made to share a bucket with the next tier of the food chain. I barely refrained from laughing outright and waking my little one.

Listening to these energetic, young explorers was a humorous glimpse into my future life as the mom of a boy. Dr. Dobson relates how the less dense connection tissue between the two hemispheres of the brain in boys allows them to forget that their chosen activity of the moment could be risky or dangerous in any way. As my experience in a family of all girls has shown, sensitive, little girls don't work that way! Life with a boy is a constant adventure and competition. I'm sure that he'll be sharing that perspective of the world with his mom--even if the added adventure is a snake brought into the house, and the competition is my fight with the rapidly growing, grass-stained laundry pile. However, I'm thrilled to watch and help him grow, explore, recover from his inevitable falls, and become a man. Let the adventures begin!