To The Mother of All Boys (Huffington Post)
(Inside: My Huffington Post article. Encouragement for moms of all boys.)
My second article made it onto the Huffington Post. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, it would be my honor if you would check it out.
I am a mother of three boys. No daughters. Just three wonderful sons. So, I have always heard comments like:
Are you going to try for your girl?
Three boys… whoa… you must be tired.
Three boys. (Light-hearted laugh.) Man, I feel sorry for you.
Or that awful saying that goes something like this:
A son is your son until he takes him a wife. A daughter is your daughter for the rest of your life.
I love being a mom of boys and I know people aren’t trying to be mean, so these kinds of comments don’t normally bother me. (Well, maybe except for the last one… who wants to ever think their child will go off and never return? What a horrible thought.) But the remarks aren’t exactly encouraging or uplifting either.
Recently though, I heard a comment about my boys that I continually turned around in my head until it seeped deep into my heart. It made me feel like I could not possibly be blessed more than by being a mother of three sons. My family and I were eating breakfast at my grandmother’s senior living center. It was normal family mayhem. My husband and I helped our kids through the buffet. (“No you cannot pile only donuts on your plate.”) We were up and down during the meal refilling plates. We cleaned up an orange juice spill. Then our chaos was interrupted…
To read more head over to The Huffington Post: To the Mother of All Boys
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Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.
This article is amazing. I don't understand how you could not have a million comments telling you so. It has been all over facebook and I have read it numerous times. As a mom of two boys and another child on the way, all I have heard is "Aren't you hoping for a precious girl?" "Wow I bet you want a girl!" and yes a girl would be nice, but just a child that God gives us is what really I hope for. Boys are the best! I love my boys more than I love playing with baby dolls, or dress up with a little girl. It's all I know that. Being a boy mom has CHANGED Me that's for sure.
Thank you, thank you for this beautiful comment and encouragement!!!!!!!! Congrats on number three!:)
I remember clearly what it was like to have a tribe of boys, be pregnant and have people ask me after the birth if I was disappointed it wasn't a girl. I have 6 sons and 2 grand daughters. My sons now range in age from 21 to 33 and are all awesome and wonderful, strong, caring and good to the women in their lives. I remember once when they were little I was walking into a restaurant with them rag-tagging along, scrapping and fighting for the dominant position and trying to outdo each other in speed, noise and strength when an older woman walked up to me and quietly said "you are just so blessed". It stopped me in my tracks and I have never forgotten her wonderful words. At the time I felt anything but blessed! Now I understand. You too are just so blessed.
I love your story! Yes, when you get that kind of encouraging comment, it can stop you your tracks, like what the woman at the senior living center said to me. I know no matter what gender I would have had, I would have felt completely lucky and blessed. But being a mom of boys sure is fun!
Thank you for this! As a mom of 3 young boys, I hear all of these so often. None of them really bother me (except that last one–when I heard that, I thought "Why would you even say that to me?"), because I love being a boy mom! Pre-children I always said I'd take 10 boys, and I'm well on my way. Thanks for your positivity and for giving me even more to look forward to. Once I was juggling a baby and two wrestling boys into the library and a kind old man walked up to me with a big smile and said, "Once upon a time I had three young boys…" Another time my little guy was totally wild in a restaurant despite our best parenting efforts and as we were leaving, an older lady came up to me and told me what a great job I was doing. Both were moments where I was close to breaking down, and the kindness of strangers had a huge impact. I'm determined to pay it forward and uplift the other parents around me. Thank you for doing just that!
I just soaked in your comment. Thanks for your encouragement to me!
Thanks for sharing…I too was plagued by those questions and looks…until we moved to China and all of a sudden it was WHOA! looks of admiration (totally undeserved) because of my TWO boys…sure, China not exactly the right place for gender equality, but for once people didn't feel "sorry" for me for not having the most prized Pigeon Pair, or the "longed for" daughter after 2 boys…Boys are special and they DO love their mother FOREVER!