The Good Thing About Boys

When I had Finn (and yes I still have baby fever) and knew we would be a boy heavy family, I started a list in my head of the good things about having boys.

Some are obvious:

• No worries if a bathroom is unavailable
• No one to fight over the bathroom with
• I will (hopefully) always be the prettiest in the family

And of course:

• The lack of whining

Not that there is no whining at all, it just didn't seem to be as high in volume and frequency as little girls.  I was used to crazy energy, loud yelling, wrestling matches, and tantrums at about an 11, with my oldest son.  But he didn't really whine. 

Then along came this one:

And, OMG, does he whine. If you know this boy, this might shock you, but he has a total and complete monopoly on whining.  It doesn't seem to matter what it is: his brother took his toy, it's nap-time, he can't have dessert until he eats dinner, his sock feels wrong, his shoe is too tight, his brother got into the car first, dad tried to buckle his carseat, the water is draining from the tub, mom laid down with his brother first, he didn't get to pick the show, the list could go on and on.  Whatever the cause is, the outcome is the same. It starts out with just a little whine to his voice but quickly escalates into unintelligible, high pitched, sounds coming from this little body.

I love this boy. He is so me. The middle child, the one who most looks like me, and seems to have a very similar temperament.  No matter how much I love him and want to squeeze him and kiss on him, as soon as the whine appears, it is like fingernails on the chalkboard.

I know this too shall pass.  Definitely, by the time he is 15 and his voice changes, if not before. Today though, I shall have to think of a new item to add to my list.  No whining has been removed.  

I could add:

• Likes to eat boogers

But I'm not sure that is specific to boys.