Little Boys

There is nothing quite like being a little boy. Wearing your superhero cape. With a stick. In the woods.

I post a lot of happy stuff on the blog. It’s because the blog is mostly for me, and I post the stuff I want to remember. Most of the time I don’t want to remember the hard stuff. If you just read this blog you might get the impression that things are perfect. They are far from it. There are days when I just want to tear my hair out. Days that end in tears of frustration for feeling so inadequate.

But even on dark days there are rays of sunshine. Even if they are diluted like rays of light coming through the canopy to the forest floor. I try to focus on those rays of sunshine in my day because that is what keeps me sane. And if I focus on the positive it makes me a better mother to my boys.

This has been a hard week. Elias has been home from school all week sick. Simon has thrown some spectacular tantrums because he is…you know…a toddler who is still adjusting to a new sibling. Caleb had his first shots and has been extremely grumpy. This week has stretched my coping skills to the limit.

But, when I looked outside during a moment of particular frustration, I saw a (literal) ray of sunshine. When I saw it I just decided to drop everything and go enjoy it. I put Caleb in the wrap so he would fall asleep, bundled up the boys and put them in the double stroller, and went out to enjoy the sunshine.

We went to Noble Woods Park just down the street from our house. I think we were out for almost 2 hours just walking and exploring. The boys were in heaven. It made their day and it certainly made mine. I loved seeing the awe on their faces as they looked up hundreds of feet to the top of the trees. And as they dug around in holes in the trees.

They watched birds and looked at the stream for a long time.

There is nothing quite like being a little boy. Wearing your super cape in the woods. Carrying a stick. Except maybe being his mother.