Raising Up Good Men...

Tonight, after a long day of purging and organizing things around the house--yes, the second round of 'chemo-nesting' officially kicked in--I told my boys that I'd take them somewhere to do something special for the rest of the afternoon. Being that it was MLK day and I assume that most of the few choices Roseburg offers such an idea are closed for the holiday, we ended up going to the McD's PlayPlace for some kid-favorite grub and energy let-off.

Now, normally, I cringe at this idea, for a couple of reasons. You'll have to forgive me, but I really do dread the idea of exposing myself and my young, developing 'men' to the, shall I say, mentality, that comes out to such places in the 'burg--same way I feel about Walley-World (aka Walmart).
I know. Mean...but honest.
My other reason, naturally, has to do with those invisible little critters that I myself have to be especially careful of right now. It's been a while since I watched tv, but I haven't soon forgotten those Dateline reports where they swab a slide at these places and discover all kinds of sick you hope and pray your kids never pick up! Tonight however, for whatever reason--maybe if just in longing for life's SIMPLICITY, I just didn't give a hoot. The boys liked the idea, it was close, affordable and frankly, worth all the gambles.
I can't say I've ever left there preaching such and I hope it doesn't mean I'm becoming some extreme Douglas Count-ian to say such...but it was really quite a lovely experience.
Yes, I said lovely.

Anyone who knows us, knows that Aaron and I strive to raise up good, wholesome, polite, loving, thoughtful God-fearing men. It never ceases to amaze me how so many little boys are simply 'excused' to climb the walls and tromp all over people just because they are 'male' in gender....... like we are supposed to just 'expect' that their male-ness causes them to be rude, vulgar and crass. Some people even go so far as to say that if we DON'T allow our boys to be little psycho's, they will become 'girly-men'--yeah, that one has to be my favorite.

ARE YOU KIIDDING ME??!

After the boys were done eating their favorite--kids chicken nugget meals with a toy--I had them clear their garbage and left-overs *as they always do* and gave their bouncy little bodies the go-ahead to join the other kids on the play structure. Initially, from what my old-lady vision could see and count, there were a few little girls outnumbered by a number of little boys running around, gleefully, like released little captives.
In usual fashion, not minutes into play, Grayson (my eldest) had befriended a good three or four of the other kids--including one of whom I was concerned looked pretty old to be in there. I later found out that he was 12--a JoLane kiddo--and was also left humbled and guilt-ridden for making such a harsh initial judgement. In watching him closely with my boys, I came to recognize quickly that, whomever his wise parents were in the sea of faces on the other side of the glass, in the dining area, they were of my same mentality--raising up a good man. Bright-eyed, clean and well-mannered, he politely introduced himself to my children, initiated sweet, innocent games of tag and summer-saults on the squishy floor below and quickly became my sons' 'hero' as well as a number of the other boys there, playing. Not more than a half hour into being there, the few little girls left--they were all in the same family--and in their place a family of five boys, appeared.

In crept the judgmental concern... again...
*cause yeah, I'd apparently learned that lesson well from before.*

As soon as their eldest was on the structure, he and the 12-year-old met up on a podium at the top and *yes, I was the eavesdropping mom below* I found out that the new kid was also twelve... and as prevailed by their courtesy and goodness to each other as well as the other kids... he was just as sweet!!! Over the next twenty-minutes, the Roseburg McD's PlayPlace got their dose of BOY as a total count of 16 boys *yes, ALL boys, aged 3-12* ran amuck their structure. More tag, more interaction, more actions of gentle and sweet with the littles. All I could do was just sit there, smile and ponder the beautiful moms and dads behind this bunch.
I've ALWAYS been proud of my boys and proud to have boys--it's obviously what God blessed me with as a mom, thus far, so why wouldn't I be--but I have to say that tonight I was prouder than ever to have boys and see other boys being raised so well. It was inspiring, heart-warming and so TELLING.

My grammy used to say that 'it takes a special person to raise boys... there's a special responsibility to raising up good men cause this world needs them!' Little did I know in hearing her say this that I'd be in such a position. It is honestly very scary to me at times to think about my responsibility... of course then I just find myself surrendering it all in prayer cause that, for ANY of us parents, IS the most crucial thing we can do for our children. But aside from that, sometimes I think I'm just not cut out for this.
When the boys are wrestling around relentlessly on the floor or fighting for the millionth time over crayons or toys or just space, or better yet--when they are bathing together and tooting in the bath is just soooo hilarious.

Oh. Lord. Help. Me.

Yet, then I see them out in public... interacting politely with adults, being respectful of strangers, helping others, sticking up for each other... and then out of nowhere, they stop all boy-play and come down off of their big play-structure-heaven just to climb up on the booth bench next to me, cup my face, offer a kiss on the cheek and say 'I love you so much, Mommy.'
In that moment, I'm reminded that...by my mothering, the power of prayer and the Grace of God... yep...I think I just may be on the right track to raising these two into good men, someday~