BOYS 6 GIRLS 2
We all know that boys and girls are different. This is no surprise or a gender equality
issue – it’s just that boys and girls on the whole are different. Even before Mother Goose said, “sugar and
spice and everything nice” or “snips and snails and puppy-dog tails” moms and
dads knew that their sons and daughters had more differences than just anatomy.
As a mother of two boys, and pet owner of a dog,
cat and Guinea pig who are all male – there have been many times in my married
life where I have felt overwhelmed by the testosterone levels in my house. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love being the
mother of boys. I love shooting rockets
and guns, playing baseball, watching baseball, shooting water balloons, getting
muddy and other such boyish games. Having
boys in my life, keeps things dirty and interesting on a daily basis. But at the end of the day, I require a shower,
where my male counterparts believe showering is optional. More times than not, I get my fill of messes –
and believe me, boys create A LOT of messes!!
I have days I want quiet time. (SIDE
NOTE: I don’t have anything scientific
to back this up, but I’m pretty sure boys don’t even comprehend the word “quiet”
until some time in their 30s…) And, there are situations when I want to get
dressed up and require my boys to dress up too!
Though all us girls are different, we each have our “girlie”
moments. These are just mine. And with boys in your home these moments can
be difficult to find.
But this week I scored one in the estrogen fight when
we took in a female kitty. First of all,
the boys recognize her as being a HER (which that right there is a SCORE in a
of itself!) It is evident they view her
as being very much a baby and in need of their protection. They also recognize her as Mom’s kitty. The GIRL kitty. The sweet and cuddly kitty who is precious
and wonderful and requires big, strong boys to take care of her. (Let it also be known, they are fully aware
if anything horrible happens to her, Mom will unleash a bit of psycho rage on
the responsible parties, but I digress…)
What is truly amazing is the effect she has had on
the demeanor of this excessively male household. This past week the following situations have
occurred as the boys cared for our new kitty Salvy:
When the boys were working at their craft table
coloring or glueing and little Salvy jumped up to “help,” sweet little phrases
in a baby voice were heard saying, “Hey now pretty Salvy girl….we can’t do
that. Let me put you over here” followed
by the gentle placement of her on the floor or nearby chair.
When opening a cabinet door and Salvy jumped
into investigate, “Now sweet Salvy, come here.
We don’t want you getting shut in there, do we? What if we lost you?”
Before going outside to play, “Salvy, since I
can’t watch you, I have to put you in your room. Here’s some food and water. I love you.
I will be back later.
When she played on the floor, on the couch, on
the stairs, etc…. “Mom! Isn’t she just
the cutest thing ever? I just wannna die
she’s so cute!"
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| Salvy playing with a displaced pen on our wood floors. |
Or if she cuddled up on their lap, “Mom, take a
picture of her on my lap! Do you see how
she is sleeping on me?” Isn’t she the
cutest?”
I am witnessing a tenderness towards this kitty like I have
never seen in my boys. This isn’t to say
they don’t love their dog, cat, and Guinea pig.
They do, and they are good to them, but this sweetness and worry for our
new kitty blows me away.
I even told her last week (yes, I fully admit I talk to
Salvy…and the other pets…) that she must be pretty cute because even my husband
was making nice with her. Though he was
not overly happy about her arrival, he sees how adorable she is. It’s also pretty evident how very much in
love the rest of us are with her…and I think he’s even kind of sweet on her
though he would never admit it out loud to anyone.
So, though Salvy and I are still out matched in our estrogen
versus testosterone war, she has definitely had an effect on the family. The boys even call her my new “Sewer Cat” who
helps me during the day. She is fond of
computer time as these are the moments my lap doesn’t move and she can get in
one of her million “cat naps” during the day.
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| Salvy "helping" me do office work. She and Butch the Cat agreed she would take the lap, he would take the floor. |
Though I doubt she’ll add any capitol to our pumping
business, she does keep me company and is a tender face I can talk to if the
day gets tough. She’s now in charge of
my new “stress management” team…I totally just made that up, but I do believe
the work suits her.
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