There are plenty of myths and stereotypes out there about raising boys — and also plenty of moms who are proud to buck outdated expectations. “I’m here to say that if you find yourself raising boys, it doesn’t have to be a miserable, dirt-filled, testosterone fest,” Carla Wiking, a mother of two boys, wrote for Mom.com.
That said, even if you are working hard to defy that whole “boys will be boys” mentality, there are some common experiences when you’re a mother of sons. “They are just different in every way they could possibly be from me,” says Marija Thomas, a mother of two school-age boys in Los Angeles.
You’re outnumbered
Boys do cry
“They cry just as much as I do — maybe even more,” says Thomas. And that’s important for their emotional progress, writes Jennifer Kogan, a clinical social worker, in the Washington Post.
“In addition to combating depression, it seems evident that boys who stay connected to their feelings will be able to express their anger in healthier, more productive ways,” she writes.
You will step on many a Lego
That shark stepping on a Lego meme really nailed it. It hurts!
There will be pee
“They don’t know how to pee in a toilet no matter how many times you show them,” says Thomas.
There will be snuggles
“There are snuggles. From both boys. That’s the best,” says Mia Marano, a mother of two in Los Angeles.
There will be video games
Fortnite is a fact of life, so the Floss might be with us for a while longer.
There will be silence
“Their silence — both the intentional and unintentional — can be torture,” says Thomas. “It’s awful to realize that the years you spent as a young woman thinking, ‘What is he thinking?’ really were a waste of time because the answer is nothing. He’s not ruminating on the complexities of your extended family or the nuance of the way you said ‘fine’ yesterday about the choice of where to eat. He’s thinking about what is happening right in front of his face. That’s it.”
