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.
4 Comments:
Terry, please tell your wife how much I enjoyed this post. I have two boys as well, now all grown up. I miss the days of trench warfare! Now my 7 yo daughter goes on walks with me and she can certainly talk (so much that if I can get a word in edgewise it's a rarity), but she also has more than a little of that boyish need to DO things. I've given up trying to tame her and just enjoy her unique personality. Just goes to show that girls do not all fit into the same mold!
Emily, thanks for your encouraging comments. I'll be sure to pass them along to my wife.
I know exactly what your wife was writing about -- we have 4 sons and no daughters! Our family moved from the city to the country almost 3 years ago, and the boys are ecstatic. My husband has the same thoughts as you: by God's grace we are debt free and living on 160 acres. We only had enough to build a basement to live in, but the rest will come little by little, as the money comes in. Jim has a parttime job that he does from our home, and the rest of the time is taken up with learning how to care for the animals and the land. I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Lynn, thanks for stopping by. Looks like your husband and you are further along than we are. Lord willing, we also will be moving out onto our own debt-free land. I know the boys are looking forward to it.
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