December 19, 2004

Superheroic World Wide Entertainment

Being in a house full of boys has been fun. I mean, the boys can't take two steps without some kind of sound effect coming out of them, purposed or otherwise.

I awakened Saturday morning to the sounds of wrestling and body-slamming....at 6:15 A.M. Recall that I am on Mountain Time, so it was really 5:15 (even as I type this the six year-old is making motorcycle sounds which sound a lot like other "sounds"). I love these three boys like they are my own, so I lay in bed amused. I then crept across the hall and teased them for awakening me so early. I was informed that this was a regularly scheduled activity on weekend mornings. I stopped and listened to see if their parents were awake, but they lay snoozing.

Yesterday, while I was taking a power nap, I listened to the boys playing PS2 and the little one once again animating his people and vehicles. I thought about how loved these little boys are and how good it is that boys and girls are different. Yes, people are the same in that they need to be loved and to know that people care about them regardless of their gender. But the sound effects echoed through the walls of my home are not exploding things and punches. Boys and girls do differ in their dramatic play, and it's o.k.; it's natural; it's normal.

R and I were talking last week about the whole women's movement. We wondered whether the good gained negated the good that was lost. I really do want for my girls to marry a man who holds the door for them, pulls out their chair, helps them with their coat, who offers to carry something heavy. My heart melts when I see an elderly couple leaving a restaurant and the husband holds out her coat, the door, and gently yet protectively takes her elbow and maneuvers her when he perceives someone as getting too close. Can I put on my own coat? Of course. Can I hold the door? Yes, and I often do. Am I strong? Very. These things don't connote weakness. They show respect and consideration.

K and her husband are raising valiant young men; men worthy of my daughters; men worthy to fight for the country they believe holds the light of democracy. Men who will be respectful and considerate of their wives, cherishing her when the strength of her youth has given way to her aging body, respecting her as the mother of his children, and the one who has loved him and been faithful for so many years.

Thank you, A and K for loving and training your boys, and thus growing them into true men. Thank you for knowing and training their individual talents and gifts (piano, basketball, art, baseball) that as knights their armor will be unique as their swords are strong.

The sound effects are starting again, so I must finish that I may give my attention more fully to Spiderman annihilating his enemies and making a safer world for all the Mary Jane's and Aunt Mae's and Uncle Ben's. And remember, it was the contributions of these people together that shaped Peter Parker into the hero he became.

Posted by Rae at December 19, 2004 10:31 AM
Comments

Well put Rae. Red flags started to go up all over the place with my husband when we found out we were going to have a daughter. You see, he has bought into all that liberal women's movement crap, and was saying that girls are different than boys because they are conditioned to be different. I am sorry, but some things are built in. Like the way my little girl (one year old) is really into pocketbooks-purses-bags-anything she can put up over her shoulder to carry. My boys did no such thing, and they all have witnessed me do it. Boys do make more noises- and are more physical, God knows we don't teach them that! There have been many good things for women that have come from the liberation movement, however much of the good has been lost. Men have somehow lost their place,and have been confused about what we women want and need from them. There is a reason we were created different-and I am not just talking about body parts. We were intended to compliment each other, to fit in such a way that we allow the other to shine more brightly.

Posted by: Joyella at December 19, 2004 08:08 PM

One Christmas, R wanted to buy the girls a Tonka (TM) dump truck. It immediately became the mode of transportation for all the Barbies, a stroller for babies, or a shopping cart.

Next up, we requested a sandbox for the girls one year. After we filled it with sand, the immediately retrieved, guess what-that's right, the Barbies from the house (and promptly left them, which is how they formed a Search and Rescue Barbie....)

Posted by: Rae at December 21, 2004 05:26 AM

That's so classic. Boys like to bend Barbie into a 90 degree angle and pretend she is a gun...

Posted by: Joyella at December 21, 2004 07:58 AM

WOW!!! Joyella, you don't know the flack Rae received from this post, but I do. I loved your comments. You definitely appreciate boys, as well as girls. Both sexes are unique and wonderful, I am glad there are people who recognize and celebrate that.

You are my new hero, Joyella!

Posted by: Kelli with an I at December 23, 2004 03:02 PM

I like Coolyella, too, Kelli with an I (and thanks for commenting, friend :D )

Posted by: Rae at December 26, 2004 11:35 PM
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