Boys will be Boys

We went to Big City, Montana over the weekend. My sister-in-law's father passed away and the funeral was Saturday. My brother and SIL have been married 34 years, so she is like a sister to me. Elder nephew came with his soon to be three year old son. Younger nephew also came with his wife and their very hyperactive dog child. They all now live in Iowa.

Elder nephew's son is very large. Not fat, large. Bigger than my 4 year old son by 1 inch and 6 pounds. He goes to preschool one day a week, where my nephew also volunteers on that day. The rest of the time he's home with dad. Nephew's wife is an M.D. I haven't been able to spend much time around them as a family unit. It was an interesting weekend.

The Boy plays hard. When it's nice outside, that's where we are. I've mentioned our backyard is filled with kid's toys - because I don't want to raise a couch potato, video game playing, TV watching kid. The Boy's legs always have bruises and he is usually sporting a bandaid somewhere.

Nephew's boy (NB) is different. He didn't know how to share at all. He wanted whatever The Boy had, even if he had one just like it. He really couldn't play either, and as the day wore on, it was easy to see why. Nephew was constantly following him around. "Be careful." "You are sweating so we need to go back inside now." "Don't step in that puddle." "Don't go on that slide, you may fall." Younger nephew confided to MFH that NB probably thinks his middle name is 'careful'. My nephews were not raised like that. I was around them when they were growing up.

NB seemed sad and nervous to me. Sure, he's smart. He can spell his name, count to 100, and say his ABC's.

But he can't play.

Boys will be boys......if you let them.