William, now 8, is still every bit the same boy he was at 7. On Tuesday, his birthday, he hopped on the bathroom scale to see if he was indeed bigger.
He was.
This weekend, he showed us more behaviour that revealed he is my same-but-bigger son.
On Friday morning, he was angry because I wouldn’t let him take the 4-in-1 Spiderman car that Grandma had given him to school. He protested by sticking his head in the bush at the bus stop.
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Then the next day, William came into the house with these:
He punched a fist full of dandelions in my direction and said the best four words ever: “These are for Grandma.” I passed them to my mom who sat smiling at the table.
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Later in the day still, I found myself being a gentle-ish disciplinarian. I tweeted the words I’d said to William:
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Putting this post together has reminded me just how complex William is. It has also reminded me how we as a society often dismiss boys (and maybe even men) as simple emotional creatures when they are anything but that.
That is all.
Love this.
Today my son drew a blueprint for… something. Then finished, grabbed the drawing, and went to build it.
He has yet to learn the intricacies of protest that does not get one in trouble.
Ha. He will. All too soon, I suspect!
Ha! The flowers for grandma – poor Leanne! Love this post.
And…just curious…what’s the age cut-off for sticking your head in a bush? Because that is exactly what I want to do every Monday. That picture needs to be made into a greeting card STAT.
True. I could’ve used some shrubbery in which to hide today.
Ah boys who can understand them? My 13 year old told me one day “why do you have to dress up so f***ing fancy?” Then for mothers day he gave me a tin bracelet that he had hand crafted to say MOM and WOW (which is MOM upside down)……
I love the two examples. I think that might speak for most teens, male or female.
Aww!! Happy birthday to your kids. Is that really your son with his head stuck in the bush? Because that looks like it might hurt just a tad. You need to save that for his wedding day and pull that out to embarass him! 😉
I wonder what my son will stick his head into when he gets older/bigger in a few weeks. Hmmm . . .
That’s really him. And he didn’t even scratch himself. Mind you, it was hard to tell after he had a scooter wipe out on Thursday and scraped up his ear (Ode to Helmets)…
Boys and men are indeed complex beings. They don’t seem to show the soft emotions. Genetics or environmental influence? Minds far greater than mine debate that one.
One of things I LOVE about your conversations with William is his off-the-cuff humoUr, the seemingly absent (perhaps, ignored?) brain-to-mouth filter and the places his imagination takes him. I’ll never again drink water without wandering how many droplets of dinosaur spit it contains. Never mind the other end…
A head stuck in the bush does nothing to dispel my impression that he is one special boy.
Aww, thanks Gloria, for the kind comment. Nothing like dinosaur spit, eh?
s/b “Some of the things…conversations with William are his…”
I got on a roll there.
Didn’t even notice…it’s Monday…
Clearly, you don’t understand men.
I never really needed to. 😉
good one.
Sometimes I wish I’d had a boy just so I could experience the difference, but after three girls I clearly have a handle on the gender. Still, I’m not always proud of my parenting skills. One day in a fit of exhaustion with the one who forget EVERYTHING (like her homework, coat, permission slips, lunch) I screamed, “I know I’m supposed to be building self-esteem…Just give me SOMETHING to work with.” I’m still making up for that one.
That’s honest, though. And you didn’t blame…which I bet I would. Forgetful ones are challenging…
Can’t help you, Leanne. I never raised a boy. Now I did raise a perfect daughter. . . .
🙂 I bet you did!
Having 3 boys (and one girl) I read your post and found myself smiling. Not only had I been there before but with my eldest child also recently turning 8, I too understand the complexitites faced with a boy of that age. Hudson (my 8yo) is a mixture of incredible sweetness combined with that 8 yo wisdom, curiosity and attitude. On a daily basis I can see that he struggles with his emotions! Searching deeply for the answer that he thinks you want to hear. His emotions are so complex I wish I could somehow crack the code and understand him the way he deserves. Men are too frequently dismissed as black and white characters when underneath they are a rainbow explosion trying to seep out.
Love your imagery, Laura. I’ve always had a lot of close male friends. William is challenging me to rethink what I think I know. About anything, really.
Love it, especially “punching” the flowers at you – it is so relatable even now. And yes, I agree – maybe even men!
Thanks for commenting, Dave. I just popped over to your blog. Love your “Things I Did That My Kids Never Will” post…
I believe this is my favorite William story ever.
Somehow I think you may have been a similar child. Am I right?
Call me William!
You’re doing the right thing. You’re writing down these special moments. Years from now when, hopefully, he will have extracted his head from that bush, this will really amuse him. If not … you’ll certainly be able to look back at it all and laugh.
I’m smiling at your comment…wondering when he’ll emerge from the shrubbery. 18, maybe?
Oh, I can’t wait…
The emotional complexity of our 4-year-old is best represented by the fact that every time we say, “We love you.” He responds with “I like you too.” We joke that this will one day lead him to be on the receiving end of a lot of girl-drama.
Love that.
Yes, men are so often under-rated emotionally. Having lived with one for almost 47 years and raised one (after 2 girls) who turned 40 this week – I can definitely say…I STILL don’t get it a lot of the time. But I will say that I’m grateful for and appreciate the much-broader-emotional-spectrum-then-I-was-previously-led-to-believe-existed …most of the time.
And your earlier commenter was right – that picture with his head in the shrubs is crying out for a caption and a card.
Thanks, Diane. Maybe I’ll send the photo to NickMom…
Am I crazy in hoping that my future child would resemble one of the Things? Also, is my grammar right?
Your grammar is impeccable. My Italian, on the other hand, sucks. And watch what you wish for… 😉
So complex. Like us, but smaller.
Is Viv’s birthday coming up?
Right. The other thing….
Wish there was a “Love” button. I would have clicked it instead of “Like” for sure.
Boys are so much more than they are portrayed to be. Thank you for pointing it out and reminding us all to take a deeper look at the boys in our lives.
Thanks, Erin. 🙂
Oh, our beloved sons. They love us one minute and push us away the next. Poor little hedge-faced boy.
Well said, Renzay.
Scooter on stairs? William’ll fit right in here with Reds, who confound me daily. Sigh.
Boys are so weird.
And you get to be doubly confounded with our two…
Awww, dandilions for grandma! I hope to have such a considerate child when we start a family 🙂
The best part of this entire post is NOT that William stuck his head in the bush (although I LOVE that!), but that Mom TOOK A PICTURE! Classic.
Ah yes, we’re so simple-minded, yet complex. There’s an irony and dichotomy in there somewhere, and a bit of my love of nonsense. 🙂
OK. A bush? For real? How did you manage to get this photo and not fall to ground in peels of laughter?