All Boys Club

By: Samantha S. Daviss

I get asked all of the time…”Are you all going to try for a girl?” or “Do you ever get sad that you don’t have a girl?”

Nope…not me, not this gal. I guess what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you. Isn’t that how the old saying goes? So I don’t know what it’s like to be a mother of a girl, nor do I really want to know. And as for having more…nah, I’m pretty sure I would like to be standing upright at their high school and college graduations instead of being skyped in from my nursing home room.

So our family took another adventure/vacation together. No major catastrophes on this one. But I did notice the looks and head tilts I got when people realized I had three boys. Typically the youngest was always by my side, so people would bend down to talk to him and compliment on how cute he was and how lucky I am. And I couldn’t agree more. Then about that time the teenager would come leaping up asking for money or for me to hold something. So that passerby would comment on how lucky I was to have two such wonderful boys. And then finally the middle one comes bounding up as the teenager’s shadow.

And then it happens…the obligatory head tilt from the stranger. “Oh my, you have three boys.” And I respond with a smile and a nod. “Well you are one brave and strong woman”. And with that I typically agree. And it may be the fact that I am wearing a rubber ducky bucket hat on my head (since I am a walking hat rack), with two little backpacks on each arm, plus my purse, plus my carry-on which of course is full of nothing but snacks, videos and games for them on the airplane.

I actually sat in my seat this trip realizing I had packed nothing for myself. I had no book, no laptop, my kindle and iPad had been confiscated by the four and five year olds; so I sat there with the lime green Leap Frog head phones on listening to the news and the clips they played on the plane television screen.

I know boys are wild, but boys are special and awesome too. On this trip our biggest problem was who got to sit by Mommy on the airplane, and who logged more time in Mommy’s lap. It was a little overwhelming at times, but it was also the best feeling in the world. Are there shoes, dirty socks, pee pee puddles around the toilet, and clothes everywhere all the time? Of course there are. But if my biggest concern and the drama in their lives is who gets to sit next to Mommy, or who can give Mommy the most hugs…then I say no need to shake your head at me being the mommy of all boys. I have completely got it made.

Yes I am that mommy that has a soccer bag on one arm, the two baseball bags on the other, my purse, a few bags of groceries, dirty clothes, and bags of trash that need to come out of the car that we live in every single day. I feel like sometimes I need to just stand there and people can start draping their clothes or bags off of me and I can just walk around with my arms extended out and they can grab things off as they need them.

But I am slowly learning to make the boys carry their weight. They are learning how to carry their own bags when we travel, and pick up around the house, and help mommy haul in the groceries when we get home. After all…I do in fact have three strapping young men in my house…so why not put that to use?

But to those of you who feel sorry for the “All Boys Club” of moms, don’t. To those of you who aren’t members is who I feel sorry for. I met a lady on the beach on our trip and she and I started talking and she too is an all-boys club member. Three boys herself, and we both raised our hands and squealed in delight. Because, yes, we know what it takes to be a mom of all boys; but we also know how blessed we are.

So don’t feel sorry for us mom boys…envy us!