Life in the Trenches - Guest Blogger

I'd like to introduce you to a very special guest blogger today: my wife. The following was originally an email my wife sent to some of her friends. I hope you enjoy it!

"Musings from a mom without daughters"

Thought you might all enjoy a few thoughts from a mom who has no daughters, on what life is like on a lovely spring day that is just perfect for an afternoon "walk" with her boys:

"We're going for a walk this afternoon, " I announce to our two boys. "Yahoo!" and they're out the door before I can get on my sneakers. After forcing one son to return his bike to the garage because this is a "walk" and not a "ride," we finally get going. Before we reach the end of our lane, I must confiscate one of the two plastic baseball bats which have been brought along--to be used for sword fighting, of course. So I carry a plastic bat--for the entire walk.

"Don't pick up the garbage in that ditch." "No, don't smash that beer bottle along the edge of the road." Hmmm, this may not be as pleasant an outing as I had anticipated. We check our favorite water-filled ditch to see if the neighborhood frog has appeared yet. Nope, still too early for him.

Before we turn back onto our lane, both boys race to the intersection and climb down into a deep, cement culvert. One boy sticks his head up and "shoots" at me with the plastic baseball bat. I "shoot" back with my plastic baseball bat. I sense an idea quickly forming in their minds. When we pass our house, plastic hockey sticks are retrieved from the garage. These will make great "weapons!" (Why I didn't think to drop off the plastic baseball bat I was STILL carrying, who knows? Guess maybe I'd grown attached to it.)

As we continue down the road, two boys can be seen climbing into gulleys, jumping across water-filled ditches, hiding behind trees, sneaking behind bushes... trying to ambush each other as they yell "Bang! Bang!" at the top of their lungs. This is "trench warfare," they inform me, with big grins on their faces. I wonder what the neighbors are thinking. Oh well. The only ones who seem to be bothered are the sheep and new little lambs at the farm down the road. They decide to run into the barn after a few too many loud "BANG! BANGS!"

Still walking, I decide to call my husband on the cell phone. "I need some girls," I inform him. Girls who will just go for a sunny afternoon walk with me. Who will actually WALK with me, and carry on a conversation. My husband can hear "BANG! BANG!" in the background, so I explain that there is major trench warfare going on in our neighborhood, and he is missing it. He assures me that he will be glad to go on a walk with me, and carry on meaningful conversation, when he gets home.

In the meantime, the troops are already gathering their camouflage gear, scoping out new hiding places, and asking when they can do trench warfare, er, I mean, go for a walk, again. :-)

Such is the life of a woman without daughters. But please don't think that I am complaining. I wouldn't trade my boys for anything, and I am SO glad they enjoy being real BOYS!!! But I couldn't help smiling at their antics today, and thought you might enjoy it, too.