Decoding Boys: Raising Sons Can be Scary for Mom

Letting dad take the reins, can be a bit unnerving for me.

But it’s a beautiful thing…

Boys are a different breed of animal than girls.

The world can try to convince us to raise boys and girls the same way, but why?

Boys and girls are beautifully and wonderfully made and so different from one another. 

I’m thankful for my manly man that takes raising sons to be men seriously. If it was left up to me, they’d never risk life and limb to have a good time.

Not my husband.

He introduces the boys to fun, adventurous and dangerous things all the time. The boys LOVE it.

I’m confident that a boy’s dictionary would define dangerous differently than girl’s.

I can’t even watch my kids ride their bikes without getting that roller coaster feeling in my tummy.

A girl’s dictionary wouldn’t contain different kinds of mud either. Just sayin’.

Decoding boys. If only there was a book.

My husband has exposed and infected our sons with something called Hero Dirt. (yes, it’s a real thing)

Just the name itself causes each and every one of my sons perk up like a dog who believes you just said the word, “walk”.

“Boys, let’s go hit the Hero Dirt!”

It wasn’t always easy for me to step aside and let daddy rough and tumble, race and crash, run and jump and ride with the boys.

Actually, I still have to look away when the boys are at play.

Don’t let anyone convince you that boys and girls are the same.

They’re not.

Sure, girls can do anything that boys can do.
Many times even faster and better.

But on the whole, boys are the ones who invent games like:

• Let’s see who will stand here the longest after we knock down the beehive
• First, one to jump off the roof, hit the trampoline and land in the kiddie pool without breaking a tooth or leg wins
• Ride through Hero Dirt like we are being chased by ravenous wolves

Recently, my husband decided to return to his mountain biking roots.

He saved up and bought all the boys and himself new (safe) mountain bikes and the best helmets he could find and has been on a weekly adventure of finding the best trails within driving distance.

We live in the Pacific Northwest, the Mecca of Mountain Biking Trails.

The boys are in heaven.

Me?

I like my front teeth, thank you very much.

So I hike.
Sometimes with a son, sometimes with a hiking stick, soon, with our puppy Sprocket.

Related: The day my son almost died

About a week ago, the boys were riding and I was hiking on the same trail system.

I missed a turn and ended up on a trail called “Derailed”.
It was a black diamond mountain biking trail and was a blast to hike up.

All I kept thinking was, ‘the boys would love this trail.’

Black Diamond is super fast, super hard, super dangerous and requires most moms to look away.

Living in Western Washington, it, of course, rained all week.
~Because it’s Washington and it rains a lot.

But then it stopped for a day or two.

This, my friend, is the perfect recipe for HERO DIRT.

The boys rode that Derailed trail twice this weekend.
Both Saturday and Sunday and apparently Hero Dirt was everywhere.

Hero Dirt:

• Sticky enough that you can race through without having your bike slip out from under you
• Covers you, your bike, and the surrounding trees with fantastic mud splatter
• Creates a waterfall of mud drops that washes over anyone who dares to get too close

Hero Dirt.

You should see the inside of my car. Hero dirt.

The boys came back from their ride:

• with stories of fast trails
• covered in 4.6 pounds of Hero Dirt
• wearing the biggest smiles I’ve seen in 2018

Mama, let your husband, or a trusted male mentor, take your kids to find their version of Hero Dirt.

…especially your sons…

Parenting teens and raising sons to be men is a team effort for moms. They need male influence.

Let them have enough space to experience their own “near death and imminent doom” survival story and listen with enthusiasm as they tell the tale.

Let them invent their own crazy testosterone filled adventures and  dictionary definitions of fun. Let them show the world it’s awesome to be a boy.

PS- I have five sons. I am sure your daughters are amazing, wonderful, daring, brave, courageous and creative too!