Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Birthday

My baby boy is three years old today. Not really a baby anymore, as he tells me all the time.
"I'm a little boy!" he says. And he's right. He's much more of a little boy than his brother was at the same age, probably because his brother has taught him all the tricks. For me, it's a huge learning curve.

Boys are different to girls. I know there is all this debate about nature versus nurture, but I believe absolutely that they are different. Innately. I've done nothing to influence my boys toward liking any one thing more than another, yet both of them are obsessed with machinery. Especially flying machines. My now three year old can identify military aircraft from pictures. What's more frightening, so can I...

I spend a lot of time watching my children. They seem like a pair of little aliens sometimes. They run everywhere and playing usually ends up as wrestling. They talk their own private language and get exasperated with me when I can't understand the things they're talking about.

It's going to get worse as they get older too. There are so many things I will end up knowing about that I never I thought I would. There will be sports, I'm sure. Endless Saturday mornings spent at the side of a field watching them kick or toss a ball around with other boys. I'll end up knowing the names and positions of the players on all sorts of teams, the same way I can identify a Nighthawk or B2 Spirit.

Even now their pop culture is beyond me. My older son comes home talking about Bakugons (or something), some sort of game that the boys in his class love. Apparently all the boys have them and he's some sort of misfit because he doesn't. The same thing happened toward the end of last year when Ben Ten was their hero and a Ben Ten watch was a much coveted item. We gave one to our older son for Christmas and for about a week it drove us crazy with its beeps and whirs. I haven't seen it for a few months now. It's probably stuck at the bottom of a toy box, forgotten.

The younger one just likes what his brother likes. At three, his brother is his best friend and he just wants what he does. But already they are so different. This friendship won't last. It's just a matter of time before they start fighting more seriously. As the little one gets more articulate, hr's going to be able to say no to his brother, refuse to follow the rules he sets. And he will refuse. From the start he has been a much more strong willed and assertive child. You can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do.

It's going to be an interesting ride. I look forward to all the things I'm going to learn. Don't grow up too fast, you hear me?

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