A Boy and His Mom

A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to an article entitled “17 Things Boys Need from Their Moms” As I read through the list I silently vowed that I would make sure I gave each and every one of these to my son.

It got me thinking back to when we found out we were having a boy. Up until that day I had been convinced we were having a girl. I had dreams about her, pictured her little face, thought about all the clothes and shoes and bows I would buy her so when we arrived at our 18 week appointment I already knew what they were going to say. And then I didn’t! For a brief moment I felt sad, not because I wasn’t thrilled that our child was healthy and growing on schedule, but because all the dreams I’d had went down the drain. But when I saw the smile on my husband’s face my sadness turned to joy. His face lit up at the thought of having a son and immediately my dreams shifted to Tonka Trucks, baseball, jungle-gyms, broken arms… and I suddenly couldn’t wait.

I won’t lie, the thought of being a mother to a boy was a bit scary at first. I’d only ever known girls. Having two sisters and over a dozen girl cousins boys just weren’t on my maternal radar. Luckily for me, two of my very best friends already had sons and assured me that it was the greatest gift they could ever have hoped for. “Girls love their daddies, boys love their mommies” is what I heard over and over. I don’t want my son to grow up a stereotypical “momma’s boy” but I do hope that we’ll be more than mother and son. I want to be his friend, I want him to come to me with anything and everything he needs help with and I want to raise him to understand and respect women. Most of all I want him to feel the immense and unconditional love I have for him.

While my original dreams literally changed in a second, now that I am the mother of a son, I can’t imagine my life any other way. Every time that little guy reaches for my hand or smiles when he sees me, my heart melts all over again and I am certain that this is what I was meant to do. Every day we grow together and we learn more about each other. As the years go on it will be so much fun to watch my son grow into a wonderful little man and ultimately a great man like his father.

I am beyond blessed to have been given the gift of a child, and even more so that that child is a boy.

In the words of Roger Knapp:

I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living,
My baby you’ll be.