Boy-Style Giving ~ a la Legolas vs. Gimli

 The boys are loving to rip open their 'mission' for the day each morning as we discover new ways to give, serve and love those around us this month. Today's mission was to SMILE... At everyone! We discussed how a simple hello and a big smile can be such a precious gift to someone.

 

For one of my boys a ready smile and a quick hello come easily.  This is the child that would flirt endlessly with anyone who would look his way as a baby and toddler.  He'll talk to just about anyone.  That no-fear and ready trust have been tempered a bit as he's become older.  Son number 2 was born scowling.  I used to joke that those first two boys of mine made a great team.  Xander would provide the friendliness and manners and Keegan would make sure they didn't get kidnapped. 

 

So as we set out to run errands this morning (i.e. find stuff to try and remove the crayon stains from all of our clothes due to a crayon that went through the dryer...), we decided to take advantage to the opportunity to spread some smiles. 

Mr. {Middle} Grumpy-Pants told me stubbornly in the parking lot that he didn't have any smiles to give.  Little does he realize that with my 8+ years of boy parenting under my belt, I can outsmart him!  I pulled out the old competitive spirit and challenged the boys to see how many people they could say hello to in the store.  My oldest jumped on board immediately and was smiling away.  It didn't take long for the other two boys to get into it as they came running up to whisper their 'smile-count.'  It reminded me of that battle scene at Helm's Deep in one of the Lord of the Rings movies where Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf had a friendly rivalry going with their kill-count.  No, my kids have yet to see those movies, but they didn't need to in order to find inspiration for a friendly rivalry of their own...  I think that is just hard-wired into boys. 

 

"I smiled at that lady, Mommy"

 

"Well, I smiled and said 'Hi' to that mother and her little boy."

 

And so it continued until they all ran up to greet our check-out lady.

 

They received many smiles in return and it was a good first day of learning the benefits of the gift of a smile.

Nailing 95 Thesis...

Learning along-side my children is so much fun.  I love that in addition to the basic skills they need to aqcuire (learning how to read, write and arithmetic), everything else is so varied.  Every day is a new adventure as we learn more about the world around us.

This study of courage has taken us down many different paths. It was fun to begin talking about church history as we explored the life of Martin Luther.  We not only need courage to fight physical battles, but also to enter into the realm of thoughts and beliefs where we must hold fast to our convictions.

After reading about his life, the boys LOVED imitating the nailing of the 95 Thesis.  It was interesting to observe how each of them approached this project and their varying skill levels in getting this job done.  No tears and only a few smarting fingers afterwards.  And parental oversight is a must with an activity like this.  I discovered that the hard way when I left them to go get lunch started.  We ended up scouring the ground for a missing nail for quite a while. 

But all in all -

Hammer + Nails = Boy Bliss

Knights-in-Training

(photo courtesy of my sister!)

I love those times when you stumble on a good idea.  We chose to study the middle ages for a variety of reasons.  First, our curriculum, is based around character traits and I felt the need to emphasize OBEDIENCE this semester.  Inspiring them towards obedience instead of merely addressing disobedience has been delightful and worked well for ALL of us.  (Yup, I've been challenged on the whole obedience front as well.)   Second, given my boys desire for bravery and battles, I knew it would be a highly interesting topic for them to study.

The deeper we delved, the more inspired they became. They wanted to emulate knights in every way...  So I decided to have them 'train' to become knights.  The training was rigorous (for little boys), including daily running, archery practice, sword fights, stick horse rides to the park (in full armor - you should have seen the curious looks of our neighbors!) to stage mock battles and learn the art of warfare (high ground is a plus), jousting practice, shining my silver (since their armor consists of cardboard, foam and paper mache), etc.

But we didn't stop there...  No, I decided in the name of seeking to raise modern-day knights, that I would introduce them to the idea of chivalry!  Did you know that the medieval idea of chivalry involved more than simply how a gentleman treats a lady?  It is a far-reaching code of overall character.  As I read, I just knew that my boys would be drawn to this and so I decided to take some extra time in their knighthood training to include talking about, practicing and rewarding chivalrous behavior!

I printed off the list on paper, burned the edges to give it an 'authentic flair' (that made me happy more than it did the boys, but whatever) and posted it up so we could review it daily!

My boys are also big chart kids.  They just love to chart progress and see it visually, so we printed off charts for the two older boys.  Stars were bequeathed when I spotted heroic feats of chivalry!  It was fun to watch them step in and defend their baby brother against 'injustice' (warring other brother), see my boys race out to open the car doors for Aunt B, see the son who has been struggling with lying, fess up and speak the truth (even though it meant facing consequences - a true sign of bravery and strength I told him.), and have boys eager to carry groceries to the car and then into the house! 

Even now that we've moved on from our unit on the middle ages, they are still eager to grow in strength and valor on these areas.

At the end of our unit, we had a dubbing ceremony where the boys were each knighted by the 'king of the house.'  They were quite serious about it all, preparing the throne room and kneeling so reverently.  Even the three year old slowed down from his frenzied running (that is the norm at the end of the day) to watch and participate.

I've come to realize that this training in chivalry is only the beginning.  I pray they will continue to grow in strength, love for the King of kings, defending the weak and taking stands for what is right and true!

Related Post: Knights-in-the Making
                            King Focus

{Free printables} Knights Code of Chivalry and Knight Training Log 

And because I just love books and sharing book recommendations, here are some of our favorites from this unit!  (Apologies: the Amazon book widget is not showing up in Google Reader...)

Adventuring...

"Mom, mom," my middle son whispered.

I bent down to listen.

"Let's go.  Let's go on an adventure." [pause] "Just you and me.  Don't worry, mom.  I'll be with you..."

And so began our forest adventure.

As we approached a meadow, he spotted drainage pipes going under the road.  I could hear him catch his breath and then whisper, "Danger."

He bolted for them and stopped before he crawled inside to turn and make sure I was following.

As I skeptically inspected the pipes, he reassured me. 

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

He's such a boy.  Longing for adventure and wanting to act as protector. 

With his trusty bug vacuum leading the way, we made our way thru the pipes, unharmed, and headed on our way.

Our destination?

Dinosaur bones.  Keegan's sure of it. :)

"These are very dangerous.  Don't touch, mom."

After studying them from every possible angle, we made our way back home.

With him leading the way of course!

I love little boys...

Embracing the Chaos

My sister sent me this snippet from The Mother's Almanac.  It made me laugh and cry at the same time, especially since I had taken my boys to the park this morning and made up a game involving running laps across the field to burn energy.  Although I thought chaos was just part and parcel of having young children in general, not just boys in sets of three! 

There must be a special place in heaven for mothers of three sons. You certainly can tell them on earth. They’re those ladies with amused, bemused faces and an amazing tolerance for disaster – for they have learned that shouting doesn’t help.

No other combination of children, not even twins, can create so much chaos or camaraderie. Even the most introspective child will join the team – them against you – and like all good players, they encourage each other to bigger feats of daring.

We recommend the advice of so many successful mothers of three boys. Give them as much outdoor playtime as possible, and indoors, set up two rooms: one for sleeping, with nothing but beds and bureaus, and the other for playing, with much climbing equipment. With three children, one is bound to be quieter than the others and he probably will need a corner somewhere else.

You will be frazzled in the early years but when your boys grow up, we think you’ll find yourself perhaps more treasured than most other mothers.

A New Skill Under My Belt

Trey received these colorful little 'pills' for his birthday from cousin E that grow into sponge animals when placed in warm water. The boys all love them.

Last night during bathtime, we gave each boy a pill and soon enough there were two dolphins and a dinosaur swimming around with them.

All was well until bedtime when Keegan insisted in taking two of them to bed with him. Without thinking anything of it I gave my consent. I mean, they certainly don't pose a choking hazard.

Clearly, I don't think like a little boy and about 20 minutes later Xander starts shrieking and calling for me. All he could scream was "Nose, Keegan's nose." Since Keegan is prone to bloody noses, I tore upstairs, grabbing tissue on the way.

Upon arriving in their room, I was informed that the dolphin was wedged up Keegan's nose. I busted up laughing, despite a small part of me wondering how and if I could get it out...

Needless to say that slimy dolphin is now on its way to a final resting place in the city dump. Yuk.

And so I accomplished my first nasal extraction.

New Territory

Growing up, I was a bit of a tomboy. Because of this (despite having no brothers), I felt VERY well prepared for marriage and hoped I'd be blessed with some little boys!

I caught snakes, bugs, gutted fish, played sports, enjoyed getting dirty, blah, blah, blah. Oh and I can out eat many boys, so I understood the priority of FOOD!! I understood being tough and food. Yup, I was ready.

What I didn't realize was that even though I did these tomboyish type things, boys are still VERY different from girls, at least my man certainly was! A good friend of mine, lent me the book, Bringing Up Boys, when I was talking to her about this perplexing person I had married. It was an eye opener.

Boys are different.

This is proved to me daily...

I'm not a big fan of killing bugs. I'll do it and you would never find me acting scared to kill a bug, but it's not high on my list of enjoyable activities. (Playing with live bugs or already dead bugs is one thing, but I'm not into the killing aspect.)

For my boys, though, it's all about the kill. Killing bugs is big entertainment in these parts - especially if you can manage to do it with your bare hands!

Their combined skills netted two dead flies.

...which they proudly brought to show mommy!

Too Smart...

Where does this kid of mine come up with these kinds of things???

Today, Alexander wanted me to read a him another story after I had already read several. Of course, my mouth was a little bit dry and tired of talking. (Yes, it does happen on occasion!)

After I made a sighing noise that implied no, he hit me with this appeal:

"But mommy, look there's a girl it it! See? SEE?"

My resolve crumbled and we read the Smash, Crash that included a brief guest appearance by Gabbie the Garbage Truck... :)

He must be getting tips from my parents. I still clearly remember Mom and Dad talking us into watching Hunt for the Red October because "there was a girl" in it. Little did we know then that this ONE girl made a quick walk by in the background during the first 15 minutes of the movie. She had no lines, there was no relational or romantic plot line whatsoever...

I've been shnuckered again!

Pretty Boy

Well, it looks like I've got a pretty boy on my hands... We thought we had finally done away with people thinking Keegan was a girl with his definitive boy hair cut, but no.

Rich and Keegan went to the grocery store a couple of days ago where the following conversation took place:

Bakery Lady: Oh, is that your only child?

Rich: No. He's the middle of three.

Lady: Oh, all girls?

Rich: No, all boys.

Come on people. He was in a navy blue, baseball style shirt with navy blue crocs. He doesn't have his beautiful golden locks any more. I just don't get it... What mother would subject her daughter to a boy haircut like that???