The Joy of Boys

Every week is a random week when you have four boys but last week was particularly random.  Certainly not in a bad way, just in an unexpectedly random way!  

The usual soccer game schedule is two practices a week and a game on Saturday.  This week there were two games on Saturday, the first of which the team played like a well oiled machine and our very own Pele scored a goal.  He then proceeded, as is his right as a goal scorer I think, to run around the field at top speed with arms flailing in delight.  It was but four short hours until the next game but somehow it was a completely different team that returned.  They saw the team that had soundly beaten them the first game of the season and it was all over at that moment.  Their opponents had the psychological edge from the start and it did not get any better.  What amazes me, in that random way life has, is that we were all ready with the speeches about having made a valiant attempt and being against a tough team and Pele walked off the field without a care in the world and said, “Can I go to Matthew’s now?”.  For us it was disappointing to see the team lose after such a great victory that morning but for him the game was merely a stepping stone to the time that he could go and be with his friend.  If only we could always shrug off loss so easily.

Our budding thespian invited us to his play and we gathered with the camera and our hands ready for clapping.  We tried to remember that it was not appropriate to cheer only when he said his lines (perfectly I might add), so we cheered equally for everyone and only a little bit extra for him.  The play itself was somewhat random in that it was a murder mystery at a pie contest and when the dead bodies appeared they were clad in footie pajamas.  The village crowd was also able to hold up signs as they pleased which instigated audience participation.  The actors did not seem to mind at all that during their lines there were random shouts of “Boo”, “Oh My Pie” and “Yummy”.  What struck me as random and wonderful at the same time was how relaxed our actor was among his friends and in his environment.  He was lighthearted and his face was glowing with enjoyment.  During his last stage appearance he did not look like he was having fun at all.  This is also the boy who was quite nervous about middle school and in less than two months he was at home and had a new found confidence among a peer group of sixth to eight graders, he being one of the younger players.  It was marvelous and warming and felt right all at the same time.

The next morning everyone left for school except one…the one who decided that he had something on his mind.  I love that he talks to me and I am always touched when he starts out by asking my opinion.  In this particularly case he wanted my opinion on why teenagers (no-one was named but I can guess who) can be mean sometimes.  Without thinking I hypothesized that because teenagers have so much going on emotionally and physically and even psychologically it is a lot to balance and that makes them grumpy sometimes.  I only said physically once and it was buried in a long sentence but somehow it randomly led to me delivering the lighter version of sex education at 7:45am.  I believe in honesty and so under the exacting gaze of a 10-year old I did not flinch and did my duty quite beautifully I believe; diplomatically but no code words.  I even managed to get in the bit about waiting until you have found someone you cannot live without.  When I got to Starbucks that morning I happily accepted an extra shot of caffeine.

To top off my random boy experiences week, my teenager called me on Friday afternoon to inform me that from now on he does not need the help of his Stepdad and I anymore when playing Are You Smarter than A 5^th Grader.  We were summarily dismissed because, and I quote, “I score a lot higher without you.”!!!  If that doesn’t wrap up a random week, nothing does!