THREE BOYS. I really never in my life thought I would be the mother of three boys.
Crazy, right?!? Especially after having a daughter first, it seemed improbable that our next three children would all be the same sex…and, here we are! I love my guys, but, let’s be honest, Grace and I are decisively outnumbered in our household.
Being a mother to boys has been such a different journey than it has been with my daughter, Grace. She’s an old soul of sorts, and definitely falls on the “girly” side of things, so the juxtaposition of her and our boys seems even more dramatic. My boys are physically active in a way that I never, ever experienced with Grace. The three of them are obviously different from each other, but our boys seem to live in a world of their own. Theirs is a world of aggressively active play. Theirs is a world of dirt, of discovery, and of adventure. Theirs is a world of wrapping paper rolls as swords and pillows as both shields and weapons when properly wielded. In their world, they effortlessly channel superheroes, pirates, ninjas, and Jedi.
7 years into my life with boys (not counting Justin), I’m used to the fact that I am merely an inhabitant of this boy world. But sometimes, the reminder of this reality is striking and I find myself pondering, “Never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever think I would be doing this!”
Case in point – Monster Jam. Every year, we take a Saturday afternoon, grab our ear protection, and head out to the monster truck rally.
I would be lying if I told you that we didn’t call our evening the “Annual Gagnon Family Monster Jam outing.” Who am I!?!? This year I found myself sitting in the stands at Oracle Arena, cheering at the top of my lungs after an amazing backflip skillfully executed by El Toro Loco. Note that while I am not the blond lady in excited jumping up and down in the video, I very easily could have been.
Earlier that day we attended the “Party in the Pits” before the event, where we all had a chance to see the monster trucks up close and get the autographs of the drivers. As I sat cozy in my seat, engaged in the competition and cheering, I suddenly wondered to myself, “How did this happen?“ Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would willingly attend a monster truck show, let alone make it a yearly family tradition with my kids?!”
These are the kinds of things you do when you have three boys. The monster truck show is merely an example, but there have been so many other outings that also fall into this category. Attending Monster Jam is never at the top of my list in terms of ranking how I prefer to spend a Saturday night as a family, but that time spent together with my kids and Justin, watching they scream and yell and cheer, will always be a fond memory.
I know that I could leave some of these outings for “just the guys,” but I want my three boys to look back on their childhood and remember having their mom next to them on nights like these. And, that’s why, time after time, I keep doing the things I never thought I would do.
Because I have three little guys who care about these things, so I care too.
