Boys and Poop

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I love when I find new perspectives on raising boys. Below is one from Thomas Matlack, the Men's Project.
http://www.babble.com/toddler/toddler-behavior-and-learning/raising-boys-fathers-parenting-advice/

Some of his thoughts are generalizations or relate to his family but he has some funny points. I have yet to find a mother with a son who is not fascinated by poop. I often hear, "Mom, I have a surprise for you". What is the surprise? Poop. I sit in the bathroom, sometimes with my laptop, because they want me to be a witness to the pooping. It is a big, darn deal for them! They want me to smell it and hear the sounds. I blame myself for making such a big deal about it the first month or so that they finally became potty trained. One day, I will appropriately say, "Son, pooping is private and no one should be in the bathroom with you." Or "Sweetie, please do not discuss poop at the dinner table." For now, I just sit on the bathroom floor and smile. Is this one of the moments that I will miss when they get older?

My Old New Self

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Do you plan on reinventing yourself this year or are you one of the few that are completely happy with your life. I plan to do a little reinventing. I grew up in the country with a small house in a really big yard with fruit trees, a verandah, a place to play marbles, yams to dig, fruit trees to climb, game playing in the street, a big pot cooking the in the back yard, and friends dropping by the house often.  This year, I am reclaiming the old me. I may not be able to recreate the magic of Jamaica in Orlando but I am sure going to try.  Yesterday, I was out house hunting and decided that any house that I buy has to be surrounded by at least 1/2 acre of land. I want the boys to experience how it feels to grow your own food and go out back to get dinner from the earth.  I want to look out the kitchen window and see them playing sports in the yard. I want to get back to being an outdoor, sports chick. I used to be able to run and climb trees as fast as the boys but I am now out of breath after 5 minutes of soccer. After 20 years of city living, my resolution for this year is to reclaim the old me.  Sometimes you can and should go home again.

Self-help

When I was nursing the babies, I would alway say, "if you can get the food yourself, it is time for you to stop nursing."  Today, I discovered a new one; "if you can change your own diaper, it's time for you to poop in the potty."

Innocent expressions of Love

Last night, I put on my "far-sighted" glasses. Now, I don't wear them often because i still haven't come to terms with the fact that after having perfect eyesight all my life, I turned 40 and suddenly became far-sighted.  I was reading a magazine and realized that my arms were not long enough to hold the magazine far enough away that I could actually read it so I pulled out and dusted off the glasses.  As I put them on and started reading, Dumpling, who is always joined to my hip, looked over and said, "mommy, you are beautiful!!!"  Pretty amazing compliment from a 3 year old. No motive, nothing needed, just a pure, simple compliment. Those will always be the best.

Raising Boys we would want to marry

Yesterday, I was pondering the correct age to start assigning chores to the boys. Why? I want them to be able to be confident in every aspect of their lives. They should be able to confidently perform any chore around the house, including cleaning, cooking, sewing, lawn maintenance and fixing any and every thing that breaks.  My oldest son is an awesome helper; every Saturday morning we get up early and he helps me tidy up the house. He vacuum cleaner is his favorite toy.  I am grooming them to be competent in every area of their lives. In 20 years, no maybe 30, they will not only be great  well rounded guys but an awesome spouse to a very happy wife. Here is a cool article on the subject.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/11/03/o.raise.good.husband/index.html?hpt=Sbin