What’s Different With Boys
Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:00 AM
Yesterday afternoon, when I went out to run some errands, I took the three oldest boys along with me.
I usually take the girls along on these around-town trips, but this time the boys were the ones asking to go, so I figured I would mix it up a bit.
Boy, did I mix it up.
Here are just a few of the things that surprised me:
1. The need I felt to say, “Okay now, we’re heading into public. Act normal,” before exiting the car at every stop.
2. The pressure to buy beef jerky.
3. The number of rolls of electrical tape I was snookered into buying at the hardware store.
4. The number of times I looked in the rear view mirror, saw limbs flailing, and said, “Cut that out!” Only to be told they had no idea what I might be talking about.
5. Their charm. Their utter charm. It worked on the bank tellers when they sat in cushioned chairs in the lobby, “reading” business magazines and discussing the stock market. It worked on the hardware store cashier—a woman I have never seen smile before in my life—when they tried to guess which goofy chicken lawn ornament she might like best. It worked on the grocery store checker when they begged for “candy that hurts” and then looked away and took turns trying to guess what the total bill would be.
And it worked on me. I am sometimes astonished by the things these boys say and do. I am sometimes annoyed or even embarrassed by their antics.
But mostly I am charmed. And proud. To have played some small part in giving the world such gifts as these.
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