How Do We Have Babies?

The boys were having a great conversation today that I happened upon.

They were talking about girlfriends.  And I missed the questions that prompted the conversation, but listened as Rylan explained to Nathan that girls can be your girlfriends now because they are little.  But when you get older, they turn into your wife.  And then they become mothers and you become a father.

Nathan asked if he was going to be a father and Rylan was going to be a mother, and Rylan chuckled a bit, but remained composed and explained that he has to be a father, because he's a boy, just like Owen will be a father, too.

Nathan then asked how he has a baby. Rylan told him that he doesn't have the baby, only the mother does.

And as I strained to hear the rest of the explanation, he ended it. And I smiled. 

Are You Ready for Some Football?!

Nathan (4) and Rylan (6) have been playing football all day long. They take turns being different teams. Sometimes they're professional teams, other times college teams.

As I was listening to them play today, I noticed that no matter what team Nathan was, college or pro, he always added in that there were cheerleaders at the game.  But not just any cheerleaders, the Georgia Bulldog cheerleaders.

I thought about this and wondered why they were always Bulldog cheerleaders.  And I realized, that we just got back from Atlanta, where one of the traditions is to watch the Univ. of Georgia vs. Georgia Tech football game.  Nathan watched it with the big boys this year.

So, I imagined that he saw a cheerleader that he really liked during that game.

I asked my husband about it and he said that there was one cheerleader that came on the TV. It was a really close up shot, and Nathan was standing right in front of the TV at the time.  He stopped what he was doing and stared at the TV while she shook her pom-poms and cheered on her team.  His mouth hung open. 

I later asked Nathan why there were always Georgia cheerleaders cheering for him, he just put his head down and tried not to laugh. I asked if he had seen one on the TV that he thought was pretty and he ran out of the room, trying to not crack a smile, but as he ran away I heard him giggling.

Cereal

All the boys in my house who are old enough to have an opinion are huge University of Miami fans.  I am not. (I'm still holding out for Owen.)  As a matter of fact, I'll be happy no matter who UM loses against, just as long as they lose.

Apparently, they are now making and marketing a new cereal at the grocery store down here.  There is a UM cereal and a UF cereal.  Maybe there's more, but they cater to those two teams down here. 

The boys saw this cereal this morning when they were at the store with Daddy.  They reported to me that there is a UM cereal, and they want to buy it.  They also told me there is a Gator's cereal and Nathan said, "I'm going to throw up if I eat that one!"

That kid....

How to Have a Lot of Money

We were driving home from football practice tonight when a brand new shiny silver Mustang pulled up next to us. We were going about the same speed.

Nathan asked, "Which car's faster, Mommy? Our car or that shiny car?"

I didn't even have to answer because Rylan chimed in, "That car, Nathan, because it's one of those cars that has the horse on it."

Nathan then asked, "Do you think we can get a shiny new car like that one?"

I answered, "We could, but then we wouldn't have any money to buy food or anything else." Then I had to explain that those cars are very expensive and we don't have money to buy a brand new car and pay for the other things we need.

Nathan thought about that for a few seconds and asked if that man had a lot of money and we only had a little bit of money.  I replied that we have enough money for the things that we need, because God always provides for us and we never go without the things we need.

Then Nathan said, "Maybe that man eats lunch at home all day and that's why he has a lot of money."

I figured where he was going with this, but asked him why that would make him have a lot of money.

He replied matter-of-factly, "Because if he eats at home, then he saves money."

So there you have it, money saving principles from a 3-year-old!

Hanging on Every Word

Nathan and the things he says.

They can make you nervous:
As the elevator door opened, two rather large ladies were waiting to walk out.  We were waiting to get on. Nathan was the first in line. He said, "That's a huuuuuggggeee.....(he paused for a second while I was dying inside, praying that the next words out of his mouth would ease my fears).....elevator!"

They can make others laugh:
While he was in the men's bathroom at church, he said to a young man, "I drank so much chocolate milk, I think my pee is chocolate." After he passed gas he said in all seriousness, "I'm the fart master."

They can surprise others (usually while embarrassing the mother):
Playing at a friend's house, he declared to their group of three boys, "We're the fart team!"

They can be so sweet:
Waiting to see his new baby cousin, he asked, "Mommy? Will baby Hannah be so pretty?" After I said yes, he said, "And she's going to be so cute."

I'm hanging on your every word, my Nathan.

Armpits

I feel like I am entering a new phase of mothering boys. I think this is the phase that I've been the most nervous about. It's about that time when other things at school and play are beginning to influence some of Rylan's perceptions. Right now, it's no big deal. I can handle this, for example:

I was putting Nathan's seat belt on in the car, and I have to reach over Rylan to do it. I was wearing a sleeveless top today.
Rylan: Eww, Mom! You have hair under your armpits!
Me: I know honey, everyone does. Once you get old enough, it starts to grow.
Rylan: No they don't, Mom! Girls don't have hair in their armpits!
Me: Yes they do, honey. Trust me. They just shave it, like Daddy shaves his face.
Rylan: No, Mom. No they do not. Girls do not have hair.
Me: Everyone gets hair under their arms when they get old enough. Just don't worry about it.
Rylan: No they don't, and your armpits stink, too. (After wearing a sleeveless top and running around South Florida all day.... at the end of the day, I'll give it to him, he had me there.)

Like I said, I can handle this conversation, but I know there are many more conversations on the horizon about what girls have/don't have, do/don't do, etc. There's so much info out there for them to glean, and they are, that it will be interesting where our conversations go. 

What, Mom?

The boys and I were outside today enjoying the beautiful weather. The neighbor boy from across the street joined in and the three were playing soccer in the front yard.

So here we have a 7-year-old, 5-year-old and a 3-year-old (almost 6 and 4).

Along comes young neighbor who is in her early 20's and apparently has just returned from the beach, as she is still in full beach attire, a string bikini.  She gets out of the car and I see Rylan and the neighbor boy whispering something, covering their mouths while they talk because they know they probably shouldn't be talking about the girl wearing her bathing suit, although they probably do not understand why.  A quick, "Rylan" in the mommy-tone takes care of that and brings those two back down to earth where playing soccer is more important.

A minute later I realized Nathan was no longer playing soccer and I don't see him.

(Meanwhile, bikini girl is still getting things out of the car, but she has at least put a shirt on now.)

"Nathan?"

Nathan's head pops up from behind the car, where he can get a full view of what's going on in the yard next door.

"What, Mom? I was just....(looks around for something to say)....I was just looking at Junior's house across the street."

I'm totally not buying it, because the look on his face tells me exactly what he was doing!