Intro...

Who ever said something about the days being long and the years being short - yeah that.

I should’ve started this blog several years ago but better late than never right?

I’m a boy mom, meaning I’m the only reason for pink in our laundry or the constant flow of crafty things going on at any given moment.  I’m a stay at home boy mom, meaning, I don’t get to leave the house to go to another job to take a break from my permanent job of mothering boys.  I am a mom, meaning that just because I mother only boys, does not make me less of a mother.

I have four sons: ST, JJ, AJ, and EJP, this year we will be hitting birthdays for the ages of 8, 6, 4, and 2. And let’s be honest, I kind of forget how old the oldest ones are half the time!

It’s busy.  Yes it is, especially at dinner time, bed time, morning, etc, but it isn’t the chaos you’d expect with 4 boys running the show.

It isn’t the wrestling matches or constant sword fights that I’d imagine it would be. Unless Daddy joins in the play, then it gets physical.

Otherwise, we get the overly obsessed older two who barely walk away from the video games long enough to eat a meal unless bodily forced pretty much.  At least they alternate between tablets, tv, and a couple different games and gaming systems.  It’s pretty much a win if I can get Kinect bowling up and everyone is standing up to play…until AJ’s power wheels tractor blocks off the sensor or his train set gets stepped on and trains knocked off the track or the baby EJP wants to dance in front, so that the sensor won’t work for the older two.  Then it’s whining chaos.

That is what I deal with most, not physical chaos, but whining chaos.  The fighting, not physical fighting, well okay, not MUCH physical fighting, but the verbal battles - ‘Mom it’s my turn.  Mom he won’t let me play.  Mom he’s being mean.  Mom he won’t get out of my house.  I don’t want to share.  He broke my train.  Stupid baby. …The electronics go off at that point and I pack them all up and go outside for a while or I’d lose my mind with it.  It does not end, ever.

Add a baby/toddler who either vegges out watching Frozen or the Polar Express for the millionth time with AJ like a complete zombie/angel OR he’s climbed up on the dining table, which, once this behavior starts, no matter how many times I take him off the table and try to deter him, nothing will stop him - except a baby gate to hold him up in another room.  Or spilling the cat’s water dish or throwing the cat food to the dogs and everywhere else, or my personal favorite, playing with the cat box and pooper scooper, which is also gated off to deter him.

Then we’ve got AJ who finally potty trained like a month before turning 4 just because I was adamant, I was NOT having a 4 year old in diapers.  We had many attempts that ended quite quickly because he was just blatantly disregarding the undies and peeing/pooing in them every single time.  It wasn’t working that’s for sure.  But lo and behold after the new year, it stuck.  However, he still dances around saying mom mom and will not just go in there and do his business, I have to go in there, set up the stool, put the kiddie seat on the potty…but at least he’s out of diapers.  But as I’m doing the dishes with EJP splashing it all over the kitchen floor and chair, but otherwise out of trouble, I hear the grunt grunt grunt of a 4 year old doing the potty dance.   Just do it yourself!

I’m not even going to get into the potty itself.  Yes, it’s a mess as you’d imagine and just the other day I caught JJ peeing without putting the seat up, I thought we were well beyond that…I understand cleaning pee off the potty/floor etc, but I lose my mind when I sit in it, there is not a worse feeling than a wet bum upon standing!

Then we’ve got a bit of autism in the family.  With the stats, I guess one out of 4 isn’t too bad and thank God it’s only mild, and at this point, I think it’s more of habit than anything, especially the being adamant about living off of cookies and chocolate, because I mean, any kid would rather eat that then carrots and chicken…

It’s not all bad.  In fact, it’s mostly not bad.  Of course or else why would I have 4 kids to begin with.  Or maybe I’m just insane.  Insane with love for these little dudes.

I wanted to start this blog not to document being a boy mom but to document the boys.

ST as I said will be 8, his birthday is 5 months away, we’re already discussing party options, this may or may not stem from the fact that AJ just had his birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I find it truly adorable that he doesn’t understand the concept that he has to wait for his birthday after his brothers. In the new year, we had AJ’s birthday first, JJ is next in 2 months, then his is 3 months later.  He knows he was born first and that should mean that his birthday comes first.  He cannot fathom that just because his birth year came first, that it doesn’t mean that his birth month comes first.  Just proof that no matter how big he’s getting, and no matter how much teenage attitude he’s giving me at 7 years old, he’s still just 7 years old and little.  He pretty much hates school, doesn’t really have a lot of friends, although he loves having friends and is super sensitive to what others think of him.  He had the worst day ever so he told me and came home in the most surly attitude and it wasn’t until he was in tears that I heard the bottom of it.  That a boy had told him in art that his house he drew was the worst house ever.  That it was too little.  He cried and cried that he did his best.  A good teaching moment, but gah rip my heart out.  I asked him if he liked his house and reminded him that if he loved it and was proud of it and he did his best, then it was perfect and that everyone will be mean and jealous in life, to be confident in himself.  I think it was a long week back after a long weekend, he was tired, and it was his way of getting some much needed attention.
Him and I are like oil and water.  I cannot say boo to him without attitude.  He’s beyond the point of tickling because he thinks I’m being mean if I do.  I cannot help him with his homework, I have zero patience for it and he doesn’t listen to my advice anyway because he learned it differently.
He still rubs his blankies under his nose, so much so that it is completely tattered and smelly and god forbid I wash them.  He likes the smell of it….
He still prefers to strip to his boxer briefs the moment he gets home, but will hide behind the couch if a friend comes knocking at the door until I find him proper clothes.  He loves minecraft and has built crazy intricate contraptions, reminds me of a circuit the way the red stone trail makes things do something.  He’s always trying to grab my attention to watch what he’s made, I can only watch so long, at least long enough to  encourage and acknowledge him.  I can’t stand the game.  Especially if they start killing the animals they spawned or griefing each other’s houses.  But the day he was upset, I asked him what he liked most about himself and his answer was how good he was at minecraft.  I didn’t think it would happen but he found another game to love too - skate 3, he does crazy tricks all over super ultra mega park and he talks all excitedly about ‘super ultra mega park’ in a super fast way ‘superultramegapark’ as if it’s one word.  He also plugs in the head phones and watches god knows what on you tube.  Sometimes he actually sings like he used to, as he is right now as I type this, but it’s not very often anymore. 

JJ will be 6 this year.  He used to introduce himself all the time to people ‘I’m JJ and I’ve five!’  or “Hi Aunt W”  which makes our jaws drop still since he was non verbal when he should have been verbal.  Lots of therapy, preschool and work and great people, he is definitely verbal.  He has the best personality and sense of humor of anyone in this house.  Right now his favorite book is ‘The book with no pictures.’  He laughed hysterically the first time we read out loud, ‘my only friend in the whole wide world is a hippo named BOOBOOBUTT’  he still laughs.  I laugh, I can’t help it, he is like the sun that radiates warmth and light outward.  He’s infectious.  And the noises in the book go on to ‘BaDoongyFace’ oh my god he loves that, so much to the point, I think it’s actually stimulating him too much and he’ll sit up and laugh and repeat it over and over even as I’m reading in bed to ST.  ST on the other hand, that book was his gift at Christmas, he read it once and didn’t like it, but the part that reads ‘ this kid is the best kid ever in the entire world.’  if he hears me read that to JJ, gets in a fit over it.  I think he just wants to be told he’s the best kid in the entire world.  Apparently I’m not saying it enough how awesome they all are and how loved they are, although I’m pretty sure I say that at least once a day to all of them.  JJ is everyone’s friend.  He is happy to play alone, or he is the one who buddies up with ST with the video games, or he’ll play trains with AJ or hide in the stuffed animal box with AJ and giggle.  JJ absolutely loves EJP, the only one of the boys who even remotely likes the baby.  Until the baby tries to pull his hair.  He loves planes and cars and not so much anymore, but used to carry multiple of them between his fingers everywhere we went, and we lost so many of them because he’d set them down wherever we were to grab something else.  He is my buddy, always has been, but he’s the one out of the bunch who wants to shop with me or go visiting family.  He gets cold outside easily but that could either be a sensory processing thing or the fact that he’s super skinny mini - despite living off cookies and crackers.  He doesn’t do well if I tell him he can’t have something he wants, like sharing video game time with ST, unless I tell him to watch the clock and when it turns 12, he can play it.  Then he’s okay with it.   One of his sayings I think is somewhat cute - because of his mispronunciation, not the tone of it - is copying - he says ’coppering’…‘ST is coppering me’ - as he tattletales.   Jacob’s fav game now is hydro thunder, he races a boat, he loves it and will yell out what place he’s in during a race.  He’s the cuddler who will come up to me and just lean on me when he wants some attention or I’ll find him tucked inside a blanket like a burrito. He always uses the wrong -pronoun- is it…calling the boys ‘She’ all of the time.

AJ has become the sweetest thing ever.  He used to be Daddy’s side kick for everything but now he prefers Mommy for bedtime snuggling and book reading, as I said before, mommy is the #1 helper for toileting, and all other needs/wants basically, he won’t ask daddy for a thing even if he’s sitting right there.  He likes to bake with me, tasting as we go.  Still loves the outdoors and will spend his whole day waiting to go outside.  Loves watching tv now, he’ll lay on his little fold out couch in the corner and curl up with his blanky sucking his fingers and just chill.  But I catch him giggling at certain things or answering any question the cartoon is asking.  He swears, a lot, I’m hoping if he goes to preschool, that they’ll be helpful at deterring him, either that or he’ll get in trouble a lot.  Right now his fav word is ‘Assey’…He loves building train tracks, bridges, etc,  or piling pillows and blankets etc to make a barn/house/fort…
He is the best eater, likes eating at the dinner table and actually eats food of good nutrition.  He loves gold doubloons  which he says in his own cute way I can’t even describe.  His new thing is trying to fasten buttons himself.  Or getting his coat on himself but gets his elbow somehow stuck in his sleeve hole.  He loves wearing his little mittens and will be the first one dressed to go out.  He is super awkward around adults or being the center of attention - at his well child checkup, he spent half the time hiding behind the bed.  He has a super sad whine/cry.  It’s heart breaking - if it wasn’t annoying.  But it’s his only way to defend himself and get what he wants.  He cannot tolerate anyone sitting on his power wheels tractor.  It’s his favorite thing and it’s off limits to all.  He doesn’t like to share and will tell me so.  He loves finding treasures around the yard - icicles, chunks of coal, berries…
He likes the animals.  He’ll say, ‘they’re my pet dogs’ and he’ll run his little hand over our evil cat’s tail - only as I pet her or else she’d scratch the hell out of him.  We think he may be color blind, he can tell orange and blue which is cool, but we talk a lot about colors and things and he can’t tell me what color his favorite tractors are or a barn, which was just his farm theme birthday party.  Not sure what kind of struggle that may be, but I already see a lack of confidence in asking him what colors things are, his answer is always ‘I don’t know’ or he’ll ask me what color it is and he’ll repeat me and say ‘yeah green’
All meat is ‘chicken’ - pork, turkey, ham - all chicken, except for hamburg, which is his fav in patty form - burger!
He has the funniest sense of style - pajama bottoms are a must every single day, if we leave the house, he’ll double his pants, leaving the pjs on underneath, and today he has red polar bear fleece bottoms with a pastel button down dress shirt and a Scooby doo teal baseball hat.

And what can I say about EJP - I’m either so overwhelmed by how sweet he is or how much I love him OR I’m out of my mind frustrated with him getting into everything or being needy in the most inopportune times.  I’m loving the fact that once Daddy gets home, EJP thinks that daddy takes over.  The little arms go up, fingers open and shut and daddy is his.  Daddy is his at dinner time, no matter if he’s already eaten, he’ll obliterate Daddy’s plate of food and steals his lap at the first opportunity.  He’ll fall asleep in Daddy’s lap at bedtime while I’m reading to the other boys, which is just a miracle in my eyes.  He hasn’t slept in my arms since he was new.  He loves the outdoors or the upstairs, basically anything that breaks up the monotony of being at home all of the time, he gets bored, he gets into everything.  He’ll shoot right towards the stairs the second I open the door to go up in the toy cubby and explore.  He’s almost frantic to get there.  LOVES bath time, just yesterday as I was running the water in the tub, he climbed in with his clothes still on!  He loves to dump water on himself with a cup or stick his fingers into the flow from the faucet or into the faucet itself, like he’s trying to figure out how it works.  He shakes his head when we vacuum.  Either that or run to the vacuum and make like it’s chasing him.  He loves being chased.  He LOVES bubbles, those are about the best thing ever, and I can’t say that watching him play and squeal doesn’t just take the whole world away and replace anything I’m feeling with utter joy.  He loves putting gloves on, any size glove, the bigger the better, you never know where you will find your gloves in the house.  He hates pants or socks.  Those are a no go unless we are going somewhere.  He’ll cry and have a fit until I take them off or he pulls his own socks off.  He loves feeding the dogs his lunch.  They love him, until he chases them, then they kind of hide in the corner.  He’ll bug to get picked up but will not look at you once you pick him up, he just wanted the better vantage point to look around.

I must say the one thing about being a boy mom that is so great is that it takes everyday ordinary and makes it extraordinary.