Big Brother, Little Brother

Of all wild beasts, the most difficult to manage.
– Plato , on Boys

My son Jack has a black eye this week, courtesy of his little brother.

I’d like to say that Alex didn’t mean to do it, but he did.

Alex (3) was mad and threw his new remote control truck at Jack (7) and hit him smack under the eye.

Jack wailed, but didn’t retaliate.  No matter how his little brother torments him, it’s not his way to ever purposely hurt Alex back.

(Although perhaps in a bit of karma, Alex tripped while jumping on our bed today and fell right onto a metal bed rail and got his own shiner of sorts.)

Such is the life with boys.

My girls were active, loud, chaotic and crazy-making, but nothing like these boys.

They hurl themselves through life and through our small house.

They shriek.

They chase.

They make enough noise to raise the dead.

At dinner time, they sit side by side and crack each other up all during dinner.

They are loud, silly, messy and totally unacceptable dinner companions to their older sisters (and often to their parents).

When we separate them, though, they sob as if they’re being sent to opposite sides of the earth.  Please, they beg, let us be together!

Last week, we stayed at a hotel to celebrate my birthday and spent a lot of time in the pool.

The older kids took turns carrying Alex around and holding out their arms for him to leap into.  I loved the sight of how they all took care of him.

But it especially made me smile to see my “baby” Jack carrying Alex around, looking after him so carefully.

These boys make me crazy on an hourly basis.

They break things.

They mess up things.

They jump and shout and leap and swordfight and smash and crash and bash.

But if you ask Alex who his best friend is, he’ll tell you, “My brother Jack.”

At the end of the day, one of the best gifts I could possibly give my boys is that kind of love and connection with each other.

Brotherhood in the best sense.

Of course, one of the best gifts they could give me would be a wee bit less bashing.  😉

A boy is a magical creature–you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart.
– Allan Beck

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Good Things, Bad Things

Life can run hot and cold when you’re a seven-year-old boy.  Here’s a sampling of the good and bad through Jack’s eyes lately.

Good things…

Rescued kittens

Extra large hammocks

Being brave

Silly hats

Picnics with friends

Bad things…

Good friends moving away

Waiting out warnings in the tornado shelter

Being eaten by sharks

(art by Jack)

Here’s hoping your week is more good than bad!

On Boys

Boys are such amazing creatures!  I am constantly amused, aggravated and enchanted by my wild,  sweet, crazy male offsprings.  Here, I present you with some favorite quotes about boys, illustrated by seven year old Jack in photos from the past week or two.

A man can never quite understand a boy, even when he has been a boy.
– By Gilbert K Chesterton

Sons are the anchors of a mother’s life.
– Sophocles

A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far better company than the average adult.
– By John B S Haldane

The sweetest roamer is a boy’s young heart.

– George Edward Woodberry

Of all wild beasts, the most difficult to manage.
– By Plato , on Boys

One of the best things in the world to be is a boy; it requires no experience, but needs some practice to be a good one.

-Charles Dudley Warner

There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.
– By Mark Twain

A boy is a magical creature–you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart.
– By Allan Beck

Lions and Tigers and Bears Can’t Compare

You can take a small boy to the zoo and show him tigers and rhinos and black bears and emus…

But if he finds out that a peacock will come this close when you’ve accidentally dropped two Cheerios…

Nothing else can possibly compare!

Zoos are fabulous, but I love that kids can often be just as enchanted feeding some treats to some pigeons, squirrels or ducks at the park.  🙂

Happy Wednesday!

Quotes from a Boy of Six

 

I love the things that come out of Jack’s mouth sometimes!  Here is a sampling of things he has said (out of the blue!) over the last couple of days….

"Good news, Mom, I think I’m all over my case of Mad Man’s Disease.  Wanna know what Mad Man’s Disease is?  That’s when I get really mad and I act mean.  But it seems to be all over!"

"You know what I love most about you, Mom?  The way you help me.  Like if I fall down, you reach out your hand and help me up.  You’re always helping me, Mom."

"Hey Mom, how about if every time I say something stupid I hit myself in the head?"

The last one in particular really cracks me up!  I told him no, for the record!  🙂

Happy Friday!
~Alicia

Just One of Those Days

My girls are off with Daddy at a late night play rehearsal (opening night is Friday!) and Alex is fast asleep.  Jack was up late playing on the computer a few minutes ago when I suddenly heard a blood curling scream.

I went racing downstairs as he came flying upstairs, tears streaming down his face.  He held his finger out and wailed, "I bit my finger!".

I hugged him and hurried him to the sink, where I ran cold water over it as I got the rest of the story. 

Yep, he bit it.  He wasn’t paying attention and was apparently chewing on his nail when he accidentally missed, and quite forcefully chomped down hard on his own poor finger.

I hugged him close, called him my poor boy, ran more cold water and tried to apply a little pressure.  That made him scream more and he finally decided he was okay enough to go back to his Nick Jr. game. 

As he settled back down and choked back his tears, he proclaimed, "The only way this day could get worse is if I bit my OTHER finger!".

Well yes.  True, that would be worse!

I’m still trying to decide if that’s his version of looking on the bright side or if I should prepare for another shriek.

An Open Letter to Jack on his 6th Birthday

Dear Jack,

Happy birthday, my sweet boy!

I can’t believe you’re 6 years old already.  What a wonderful six years it has been.

You are such a sweet and special boy.  There are so many reasons I love you but here are a few.

• You get wild and crazy and talk gibberish and run around like a crazed monkey.
• When you are trying to be especially sweet or well mannered, you talk with a British accent.
• You still love to snuggle with your mama.
• You love animals.
• You are patient with your troublesome little brother and crazy-making big sisters and even like them a lot of the time.
• You make darling drawings.
• You love books.
• You’re not above doing "girl stuff" if it’s fun.
• You’re generous.
• You love to cook, do crafts and play games.
• You ask to "do kindergarten."
• Your favorite color is green and you love being outside.
• You collect metal pieces to build your Alicia-bot (the full size robot mama you are building to take over my other jobs so you can have more time with me).
• You make me smile.
• You are dramatic, entertaining and funny.
• You are very smart.
• You try to do the right thing.
• You have a good heart.

I love you with all my heart, my sweetie pie.  Please always let me ruffle your hair and give you kisses every once in a while even though you’re too old for it now. 

You bring us all so much happiness and so many smiles.  Thank you so much for being my little big boy.

I love you!

Love, Mama

 

Happy 6th Birthday, Sweetie!
I hope you had a wonderful day!