The Joys of boys!

This morning was anything but relaxing. My sons woke up on the wrong side of the bed- ALL of them! After much fussing, fighting, arguing, correcting, etc. I turned on the boob tube and decided to escape to the shower for 10 minutes. Ten seconds into my hot water relief I hear feet running- my 2 year old is half naked(still can't get his shirt off by himself) and trying to jump in with momma.

NO! Sorry dude- not this morning- momma will be done soon, go play in your room or watch Scooby-Doo! (I know, how mean of me to actually want a shower by myself?)

Two minutes go by- 2 sets of feet running, actually laughing(Maybe my day is looking up?).
"We have to pee!"

Of course you do, I'm wanting some time alone. Of course you do because the only potty we currently have is in the master bath.

Okay, deep breath.

Prayer for my day.

My thoughts are interrupted by crying, no, SCREAMING and another voice laughing. It was that evil kind of laugh that brothers give, you know the one- where something has happened to one sibling at the hand of another and you dread asking what actually happened because, well, you usually don't want to know. The shower curtain is ripped back - hello cold! If 2 cups of Folgers didn't do it I am now officially awake.

And my 2 year old is standing there SOAKING WET!

"HE PEED ON ME! HE PEED ON MY BELLY!

And in fact he had. On the belly, the floor, the air duct thingy...

There are big crocodile tears running down Quins face. His older brother is still cackling...

Here's where I must say praying for my day WORKS! Asking God to give me wisdom to raise these boys WORKS!

I didn't yell, scream or storm naked and dripping wet out of the shower to beat a child's rear. Instead I calmly told middle brother to go find a corner and stand while I finished( I was GOING to get MY SHOWER!)Except now it involved the peed on 2 year old. This did help to cheer him up. He loves a shower with momma.

I prayed for a creative idea to punish the little monster. And one came. My middle son doesn't like to work. He was going to scrub my bathroom today. Not just the floor. The toilet, the tub, the sink, the mirror. Oh yes- he was going to see how hard it is to clean up pee.

And so he stood while I did my hair, face and picked out his tools of servitude. We spent an hour cleaning, me showing him HOW to clean a bathroom. He mopped up pee, and my mirror now shines. He actually had a good attitude, and swears he will NEVER pee on little brother again. He will also be hanging little brothers laundry for him all week.
I felt this lesson was more lasting than a spanking, or grounding. He will be serving his brother in turn for being cruel, and he has learned the value of hard work (okay, we've lightly scratched that area, but hey- we are trying!)

I didn't bother to ask my almost 5 year old what in the world he was thinking- he wasn't. I can tell you right now this great idea of peeing on brother came as a whim, he never thought about it, just acted on it. And I have learned that harping on 'why' at this age doesn't get results. They never have a good answer. Seriously.

Ive recently been reading the book Wild things, the art of nurturing boys

I love many ideas in this book on boys. The one about work for punishment truly does work in our home- it gives my sons something physical to do, which boys need, and it also gives them time to think while they work. It gives us time to interact, and talk and reach their little hearts while they are working along side us. And let's be honest, it gets more done around here that I don't have to do!
So- how about you with boys? What joys of boys stories to you have/