The Lies Boys Believe

All this week the kids have been in VBS (Vacation Bible School). They have had their fun and I'm glad about it. They have only gone to one VBS a summer. Since we home school, I haven't volunteered to help with a VBS. This is sort of their summer break away from mom and my summer break to get a few things done. It is just enough time for me to get errands ran and my to do list empty so I can fill it again! Although I've enjoyed the few free hours, when they are there they are constantly on my mind, hoping they are ok, wondering how their day is going etc. They have always come back really happy kids. I hope they will continue to see VBS as a happy time and later on contribute back to it in helping.

So on my journey to get things done yesterday I went to the library. I'm a self help kind of reader. I like to read books that will generally give me good ideas about life improvement. I've read fiction books that I liked, but I'm a sucker for a facts and proven methods. Some aren't so great so you take the good and dish the bad. I picked up a book called 200 Ways to Raise a Boy's Emotional Intelligence by Will Glennon. I thought, "Hmm there are so many books about girl issues, what about my boy?" So I inquired and checked it out. Within a few pages my thoughts focused on my son and how today's culture has effected our view of how a man, a son, a boy is supposed to be. There is one chapter called Exploring Your Own Assumptions that talks about our ingrained thinking of how men are "supposed" to act. The "don't cry" theory is addressed among others. The stereo type of men shouldn't cry, and non emotional so they aren't wimps is an oppressive way to stereo type. Women have had feminist rallies stating, "I'm equal andI can do whatever a man can do!" while if a man shows emotion (other than being a sports fan), they must be gay! Not true. I thought to myself, I really appreciate when my husband shows his emotions. It lets me know he cares. I appreciate him expressing feelings. It means he it says to me that strong and intelligent. I want my son to do that too.

For a while I questioned my son's crying. Why does he so easily moved? I worried that he might be the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve or be teased. I struggled with the stereotype in this situation. I didn't want to emotionally cripple him by telling him not to cry but I didn't want him to be a wimp either. This book gave me confirmation in telling me that it is ok for my son to cry. I'll continue to comfort him without worrying if his emotion is normal. I'll let him get his emotions worked out just as we confidently let the girls work theirs out. He's my son, and I am his mother who is very proud of him.

Strange Occurrences

Our family went camping for the first time. We left on the 30th and returned on the 1st. We spent a great weekend with friends at the Ozarks Outdoors. Saturday we had an eventful float on the Meramac River. I really enjoyed it. In fact we all did. It was perfect weather through out the weekend. We had a few seconds of scattered showers but that was all. The night sky was beautiful. The morning we packed up we made Smores! The kids enjoyed that! The camping weekend was great for us all.

Now, I have a strange situation going on here. A neighbor of ours has had some rather strange behavior that just came to my attention. Apparently it's been going on more often than I realized. Let me try to explain. At first I thought it was a matter of coincidence. We were going for a walk one day and just before we started off I showed my girls how to do cartwheels. We had a few laughs and giggles and then decided to walk on. We walked passed our neighbor's yard and saw one of the little girls silently doing perfect cartwheels in their front yard. The girls thought she was a copy cat. I brushed it off as the kid being lonely. Now it seems every time we come out of the house, whether it be the front yard or the back yard they seem to appear doing the same thing. Now you might think oh whatever it's just you making a big deal out of nothing. No, the day I noticed it, it was obvious. I decided to do my husband a favor and mow the front lawn. So I started the mower and went on my merry way. I was very proud of my self for starting the mower all by myself by the way! I mowed one row and I turned around to go up the next and out came the neighbor with her lawn mower. She decides to mow right beside me. Along the same path... See? Yeah strange. So I decide to smile and maybe make small talk about the rain in the area or something. She responds to my initial smile and hello with a smirk and a "Humph." At felt insulting and a bit confrontational. My girls were outside and I turn around and look at them with an, "Is it me or is this strange!?" expression. They respond with hunched shoulders. We laughed and mowed on.

Today was a beautiful day and I decided to go in the backyard and read. My daughter Ash joined me. It was very peaceful and I enjoyed the quiet company. Ash looks up, chuckles then says jokingly, "Mom what if the neighbors come outside with chairs too." I laughed and said, "No I doubt it." I've never heard them come out in the backyard to play and they couldn't possibly be paying us that much attention. Shortly after her comment, her sister and brother came out to play in the water. Ash of course gave up reading with me and joined the water fun. The sound of water splashing and kids playing filled our backyard. I noticed my dog's ears went up and she ran to the fence. It caught my attention and I called her name to come back to me. I thought she was going to bark or do some territorial Yorkie like action. Immediately after calling my dog's name I heard mimicking kid sounds from the other side of the fence. I thought "Really?" Why is this strange? Because we have never heard their children laugh and play loud in the backyard before. We have been in the back yard playing many times and never heard a sound from that side. For a while I didn't even know kids lived there. They have kept to themselves and are always in the house. I find it strange that our kids have never spoken. It's just weird. I wonder what other Copy Cat neighborly situations we will find ourselves in before we move. This should be interesting...

I think I will start mowing in costume to see if she will join me next time. Any ideas? lol
- It's late. Goodnight.