It never fails. Anytime our family goes out, someone will stop us and say “Four boys? Bless you!” I smile and make a comment like “I’m definitely out numbered!” or “They sure keep me busy!” The truth is, though, raising boys is fun! With four boys, I am never bored and my days are almost always eventful.
My boys are definitely big balls of energy. They run non-stop. I’m fairly certain that my husband and I are the only people that walk inside the house. Up the stairs, down the stairs. Bedroom to playroom, playroom to bedroom.. Sprint to the bathroom. Like little roadrunners.
This high energy life makes summers fun. We live a block away from our community park (complete with water splash pad!) and our suburban neighborhood is full of sidewalks and laced with trails. Active kids keep us active, which hopefully keeps us young!
Even our son with physical limitations pushes himself to be as active as his brothers. It usually means he’s limping by the end of the day and unable to walk easily up and down the stairs, but he has fun with his brothers, so who am I to try to stop him? (Okay.. Honestly, I used to try to stop him.. but – have you ever tried to stop a two-year-old from doing what they want??)
I definitely don’t know what it’s like to have calm, relaxed kids. While they enjoy movies and television, my boys rarely ever just sit to watch. They usually watch out of the corner of their eye while running and jumping around. (I definitely don’t mind this!) Even family game nights, where we are typically all sitting in our living room on the floor playing a card or board game, isn’t very calm. They usually involve victory jigs that resemble touchdown dances and a whole lot of “booyah!!” commentary.
So yes, four boys is definitely chaos. It’s busy. It’s all sorts of insane. It’s peed on toilet seats, smelly feet, dirt, bugs and a lot of talk about butts/farts/burps. It’s 5-mile family walks, Saturday morning runs, jumping off the stairs and I’m sure eventually it will be many many broken bones. It’s my life, and I love it.
Boys..
