Raising kids in general can be such a scary task. I mean you now have a living thing that depends on you for EVERYTHING!! I mean literally, wiping their little bottoms is one of them. From feedings, bathing and discipline, they count on us for it all.
Raising boys vs raising girls, well thats a whole other ball game. Until I had kids of my own, I never thought how different they both are. Sure I get it, different sexes, different problems. I want to share some input I have learned about raising boys. I do have 3 of them so I do know a little bit about this subject! My boys currently are 6, 8 and 10. All very different in personality, but very much the same. What do I mean by that? Let me shed some light on this topic!
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Lets start from the beginning. When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of being a mom. The thought of having kids on my own, well seemed pretty cool. My mom was and still is a great person! I looked up to her so much that I just wanted to be like her too. There was also another person I looked up to. My older brother. I always had a sense of security when he was around. He always looked out for me, walked me to school and protected me against anyone who treated me poorly.
Since my brother was so cool to me, his younger sister, I hoped to have boys of my own. I wanted to have them protect their little sister too. Well move forward many years and God blessed us with 4 children. 3 boys and 1 girl, she’s the youngest.
So let me start out with baby boys. I’m talking infants! Wow what a change to be a new mom. Now try being a new mom to a baby boy.
1. They pee ALOT!
Who knew! I mean, I get it! Kids pee and diapers need to be changed often. But you have no idea! No one ever told me this, so that is why I will tell you now. When they sleep in the middle of the night, they will pee all over themselves unless you are prepared for this.
As newborns, they have part of the umbilical cord that still needs to heal and fall off. Diapers are great because they have a semicircular cut out for this healing purpose.
FANTASTIC!
Well, this is great and all but, when they urinate it will go through that portion of the diaper, hence all over them and their bedding! Talk about being tired trying to nurse or bottle feed at 2 AM and now EVERYTHING is wett and needs to be changed. UUUGGGGHHHH! This happened to me every time my son woke up to nurse.
I’m not kidding! Every time!!
Here are some helpful tips I learned to prevent the urination epidemic. Double up your diapers. I always put 2 diapers on my boys at night. The second diaper helped soak up whatever the first couldn’t hold anymore. I know you are probably thinking, its your brand of diaper you are using. So I did try a bunch of different brands. In the beginning I used Pampers. A little more costly, but did a nice job. Then with my second son (could you believe he also had the same issue?!) used Luvs. Luvs was less expensive than Pampers and still held the same amount of liquid in my personal experience. I did try Huggies and personally for my boys, was not a great choice! Now for my little girl, Huggies was OK, but lets get back to boys.
Another trick that really saved precious feeding and sleeping time was infant sleeper gowns. These gowns do look somewhat like a dress. Where the bottom part is open, giving easier access to their diapers for changing. Genius! Anything to not interrupt your baby too much so they can sleep, therefore allowing you to sleep, is a win win for all! This helped me greatly because I didn’t have to unbutton or zipper anything on and off. This allowed more room for 2 diapers and making it more comfortable for him.
Another thing I used all the time was a mattress pad. Sure I had a waterproof mattress along with a waterproof mattress cover, but heres the difference. The pad sits on top of your bedding so if your son has a leak or blowout, you can just change the pad to another one without removing all his bedding. How wonderful is that? Take it from me, this helped a bunch. You could change this pad one handed, while still feeding your son if needed to! I know we all can multi task!!
OK so enough of the bodily functions that shocked me when I had my first son. On to the next.
2. They run!
Here comes the toddler stage. Holy cow! God help me! My little boy isn’t so little anymore. He started to become more feisty and didn’t want to snuggle as much (tear). I remember crying the first day he started to “test” me. He was 19 months old. I couldn’t believe my sweet little angel wasn’t being as sweet as he was just a few weeks prior. This is where it all began.
I went with my sister-n-law, who has a daughter the same age as my son. We thought, “hey, its a nice day, lets take our crazy toddlers outside.” So we did. This was the first time I took my son to the park, I was not prepared. Running in flip flops, not a great idea. Why was I running you ask? Trying to catch my son! The minute I let go of him, he was off like a torpedo!! I thought, “wow, he’s so excited he doesn’t even know where to start playing?”
WRONG!
As I looked back at my n-law, she was still holding on to her little girls hand all while calmly walking around the whole park to each activity.
What the what ?!?!
Ok read very carefully boy moms! They run ALOT!! I mean all over the place. You need to have a good pair of running shoes in your arsenal. It is very, very rare that you will find a boy that will hold your hand, just like my niece, and slowly walk around the park. All 3 of my boys did not hold onto my hand!! So just make sure your coffee-d up and running shoes on! Because girl, you are in for a fabulous treat!
(Side note, I did loose a few pounds during this stage! Amen!)
3. Active
We know they like to run, but they are also very active. My kids are very much into all sports, such as, soccer, baseball and football. You name it they like to play it. All kids are typically very active at this toddler to middle school age group. With boys, they need to be entertained at all times. Entertained by something physical in nature.
Girls for instance, will sit and color for hours on end. My 6 year old son will color too but, only for a few minutes. This is so true in my house because, you see, I have twins. Yes I am a multiple momma. My twins are a boy AND girl. So I experience this first hand. When I see my twins coloring, my little girl will sit there for hours, while my son becomes “bored.”
They have so much energy than girls, that they need to release that energy with physical play. Yes my daughter loves to ride her bike and one of my nieces is as active as my son, but there is a difference in their energy levels. I find that with boys they love to be rougher and wrestle around more. Just as long as they play nice, let them get that energy out. Too much stored energy can make routines go south and cause you to run late for scheduled activities. So get that energy out! Especially before bedtime!
4. Appearance
So are you having fun raising your boys, yet? I know I am. This one I feel is a no brainer! Well, so I thought. Baby boys don’t care if they are dressed or let alone have a diaper on! This maybe true for little girls also, at least mine. At such a young age, they could care less on how they look. Even if they wore something or didn’t!
Funny thing about boys, is that they will wear clothes that don’t match, are ripped, pants that are 2 sizes too short, different colored socks. You get the picture! Boys don’t care how they look or the style of hair they have. This is all on mom. We are the ones that have to make sure they are dressed appropriately. Because we all know he would walk outside naked if he was allowed. At least my 8 year old son would!
When they hit 10 years! Change all the above that I just mentioned. Just like that, poof, its different. They want to pick out their own clothes, wear what their classmate is wearing, buy those NIKE shoes and forget about sketchers!!
YIKES!
With raising boys, you just went from, “I can give a rats behind” to “OMG I can’t go out with my hair that way!” Yes this is a boy thing not only girl! She’s a different story (God help me!).
So their appearance went from whatever somewhat fits I will wear because my mom told me. To, I need to wear the next biggest thing before I can even be seen in public again! YUP, Thats raising boys!
5. Emotional
I have to be honest, I never thought this to be true until I lived through it. As your son gets older around 8-10 they become more emotional. At this age, lets face it, they are starting to learn a lot about everyday life and situations. When something happens at school or home their emotions kick in to overdrive at times.
You know the saying, “he’s a mommas boy”? Well that holds true for this expectation. Boys want their moms to show love and concern for them. Just like the time when they were infants. That sweet little boy who you snuggled with as a baby, well he’s back! I mean they don’t probably want you to give them a big hug and kiss in front of their friends and all. But believe me, they want you to love and hold them.
I know we love them and always will no matter how old they are. This time they want it to be said or showed more often. My 10 year old will come out the garage door, while I’m pulling up the driveway from work to give me a hug. (Yes!) He sits right next to me on our family movie nights and snuggles! I’m loving it!!
They also want to be recognized and commended on a job well done. They want to feel congratulated and accepted for the positive things they did. Positive energy makes these boys strive so much, especially at this age.
So make sure to ask them about their day and how they feel about what happened while at practice? Give them that hug. Snuggle with them on the couch. They may say they don’t want too, but deep down they really do! Just you watch, they will open up to you. Just be a positive parent/role model.
They are slowly moving on to being teenagers. My journey will soon venture there. So for this stage I will take it all in and be as supportive as I can be at this emotional stage. Positivity and recognition is the name of the game!
Raising boys has been quite a ride for my husband and myself. They are trying times and they are good ones too! Boys wear their hearts on their sleeves. What a gift to have. They don’t sugarcoat anything. If something is bothering them, you will know. They can be dramatic at times, but no where near their female counterparts!
I love my boys and am very grateful and honored to be their mom. We are very lucky to be raising sons. Keep up the good work! It is important that we as moms and dads teach them to respect themselves and others! Energetic boys need positive energy!
