Wednesday 25 March 2009

boys will be boys...

With all the talk recently about mothers it has made me think a lot about my little family.  I am a Mom to two active boys.  Now there is nothing unusual about that you might think... but being a bit of a girlie girl I really notice how boyish my guys are...  All around my home their personality creeps in...The girliest room in my home has to be my sewing room, all the pretty fabric and thread, lots of floral fabrics and many textures and textiles... but as I sit at my sewing machine I look up to my cupboard and there is the boys pirate flag left over from a weekend play date when my gorgeous sewing room was transported by imagination in to a pirate ship landing on a island to find buried treasure... 
I sat this morning to write my post and there on my Mac book is a little interpretation of Indiana Jones as if he was saying  'Go on Mom...if you think your hard enough'
The children being close means buying things for my guys is easy, usually what one wants the other one does to, so its usually safer to buy things in pairs...
Being of the beach liking kinda family our beach equipment is usually all over the place, even in the winter, a pile of wetsuits waiting to be tossed into the back of the car for a day playing in the sea...
I am not trying to stereotype here, my boys are creative little souls and they both lean in different directions when it comes to what they like and dis like, It has been known for the boys to sit at my sewing machine and produce their own little bits of art, of course drawing is a daily occurrence in the house, we have pots of pens and paper in most of the rooms.  Of course we have the musical side to... with guitar and violin lessons weekly and practice through the week it can get quite loud some days.
Some days its so easy to be with my boys, they love a disco in the evening, only they are not swishy or swirly like me and they do not sing in to a microphone.  No they leap off the the sofa or chairs swaying their heads rather violently from side to side and up and down with air guitar in hand. But some days I get a little lost as my female ways are completely lost on them...I smile at the way they think burping and farting are just the funniest things in the world, how no matter how many times I ask them not to play rough they always end up playing Cow Boys and Indians, with one of them playing dead in the most dramatic and gory way possible.  How when we go into the garden they want to dig it all up rather than plant pretty flowers. 
When they say 'Mommy will you play a game' I have an idea of nice things not Star Wars or Ben Ten...How their favourite toy  LEGO is all over the house, from the proudly built trucks that sit like ornaments around the house to the Lego man that falls into my candle lite bath in the evening, or the bit I crunch under foot as we rush out the door for the school run...
The mess that seems to lie in the wake of these two little people never stops amazing me... the bedside desk with ever possible need catered for, a midnight snack or a mammoth night reading under the covers with your head torch to the all important trading cards ready for swapping with play dates.
The endless piles of stuff I pick up every day, the toilets that need to be flushed, the plates hidden under the sofa...
Is this the reality of little boys, is this really my poor mothering techniques... what ever it is, I could not be more proud of these little characters  and all their quirky ways...  So if you have boys or girls or may be your blessed with both... do you scream at them to tidy up, put away, keep clean, do this do not do that.... or do you look at the house when they have gone and enjoy the feeling that they played, they left their mark and tomorrow if your lucky it will happen all over again...


Show and Tell on the crafting front for my next post...

17 comments:

April said...

I only have one girl, but she is just as messy - but now she's 9, it's clothes being discarded as she preens in front of the mirror and her magpie like tendencies to acquire my pretty things... Hmm I spy a post of my own on this theme!

Thanks for the inspiration!

April xx

Suzie Sews At DOTTY RED said...

April I am pleased to have inspired. I look forward to hearing about a girlie household.....

Thimbleanna said...

Do what my mother did ... just close the door and don't look in on their mess. Whatever you're doing, it sounds just perfect -- I wish my boys had been a bit more "creative". I feel like I failed them somehow that way -- I must have been too busy sewing myself or something. Have a great time with your boys before they're gone!

Kitty said...

Yep, that is how my boy is too! They have different brains to girls and think entirely differently. Even a cuddle with my boy can be a painful experience as he squeeeeeeeezes so tight! Like you with yours though, I love his little manly ways and couldn't be more proud. (The same, of course, can be said for my daughter).

x

Sal said...

Hi Suzie...
Hope you are well.
You give your children so many wonderful opportunities.
You just enjoy your lovely boys and to hell with the muddles!
They will be grown up and gone before you know it! ;-)

xxx

Locket Pocket said...

I don't think it is just boys - my three monsters are extremely untidy - and I too have little lego people falling in my bath on a regular basis. I think being messy is one of the skills they have learnt from their mummy!!! And they do it so very well!

Lucy x

P.S. Unfortunately I think I'm more likely to get grumpy about the chaos than appreciate it like you - I wish I could see it your way!

Anonymous said...

I've got 2 boys too, believe it or not the eldest is really tidy , he tuts at me if I don't put my nightie under the pillow lol, I think the youngest is going to be messy though bit too soon to tell...
lisa x

Anonymous said...

Ahh my (shared) lovely boys...:)I got such a gorgeous sense of them both from what you said and the pics bud...xxx
As the years go by I am getting less obsessive compulsive (no laughing - i really am!) in my tidying inclinations and much better at seeing the fun behind the mess - having one obsessed with boxwork has helped with that as she takes our boxes to school only to return with what seems like everyone elses contributions :P - it's like living in a recycling plant!!! love you buddy. xxx

Anonymous said...

Ha! I have two boys too, although mine are in their teens now. So many of your photos and so much of what you said brought back memories for me - the constant Lego underfoot, the mess, the burping and farting jokes (actually, that bit hasn't changed!) As the only female in our house I do occasionally feel a bit alien, but I just love how they are what they are.

Oh, and, I am coveting your fabric cupboard...

Colleen formerly of South Africa said...

Loved the unexpected things you found in your girly spaces. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Apart from the gorgeous fabric stash, those piccies could so easily be my house! Our latest craze here is for Go-go Crazy bones and they regularly end up in the bath, under foot or even in my knitting bag! I can vouch for both girls and boys being messy, although my just 2 year old yesterday tutted when a boyfriend of hers emptied a box of toys onto the floor, then she crossed her arms and very crossly said "goodness sake" to him so I guess that although I like to think of myself as fairly laid back about it all, the truth always comes from the mouths of babes!

French Knots said...

My children are both super messy, in fact I tend to just shut the door to my daughter's bedroom as it is so bad! Even if I tidy it up she manages to mess it up again in no time and I can see my son is going the same way......but as the messy apple doesn't fall far from the tree I can't really blame them..my sewing room...messy??!

Anonymous said...

This is a lovely post. Even my two girla have a wake of toys and mess, albeit rather more sparkly and pink. We live in a little house so if I left it for a day we might drown in stuff! There are also A LOT of sticky pictures produced by my three year old. I never know what to do with them all!

Jane said...

Oh yes, we have the messy monster now and then, but Em is at the age now that if a friend is coming round she tidies and dusts her room and it sparkles once more. Jane x

Caroline said...

Hi, me again. Just been re-looking at your piccies, and have just noticed strange things in the last one- is it just me or is there a green witches face and black cat with yellow eyes amongst all that mess?! If it were Halloween rather than nearly Easter I would consider this to be seriously spooky.....

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

My son was a huge Leo fan until the age of about 12 - sadly it is now packed away as he has too much homework now. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Sue said...

My 15 year old son is messy too, although I have to say with my constant nagging he is actually starting to listen to me to clean up his room, apart from the fact that he has now stepped on things left on the floor and didnt like it. I think the hardest part is realising that my little boy is now becoming an adult (apart from the hormones making him smell bad) and that my time being special to him wont last as long as I want it to. I had to laugh when I saw all the little props put around your girly space too. Boys always seem to try and do these things to make you laugh or to be annoyed but I am sure you would miss it if they didnt do it.