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Category Archives: Boys will be boys
Diet of the Week
Last week my son announced he was going to stop drinking soda and eating red meat. Given that he has subsisted almost entirely on bacon and root beer for 14 years, this came as something of a shock. Still, I … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Food, Kids, Parenting
Tagged Diet Coke, food, meatlessness, red meat, root beer, vegetarianism
7 Comments
Throwing My Counterweight Around
One of my key roles as parent is to contradict whatever my children do or say. If a child is feeling blue, my job is to cheer her up; if she’s inexplicably giddy, I make her empty the dishwasher. When … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers
Tagged college, Eastern Mountain Sports, support
6 Comments
For the Love of Siblings
My little brother is the only person on earth I have ever punched as hard as I could. It’s been 35 years, but I can still recall the intense feelings of rage I felt toward him for his hideous way … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers
Tagged sibling rivalry
7 Comments
Nothing Two Advil Won’t Cure
When my son first told me his head hurt after football practice, I offered my standard response: “I’m sure it’s nothing; take two Advil.” By now, I should know better. I have given this erroneous assessment at least a dozen … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Reality check, Working motherhood
Tagged concussion, illness, pediatrician, sick kids
5 Comments
Rattlesnakes, Spiders and Bears
Oh my. My son returned home from a two week backpacking trip in the Blue Ridge mountains with some harrowing tales to tell, along with a smelly piece of freshly-killed-rattlesnake skin. A more anxious mother might have banned him from … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Parenting, Teenagers, Travel
Tagged backpacking, bears, brown recluse spiders, hiking, Overland Adventures, rattlesnakes, wildlife
2 Comments
Zipping Down the Line
In recent weeks, my son has become obsessed with the idea of building a zip line in our backyard. To me, it sounded like a cockamamie idea–one of his crazy projects that would soon give way to plans for building … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Parenting
Tagged home improvement project, teenage boys, zip line
5 Comments
Holy Mackerel
Like many representatives of his gender, my son is project-driven. Do not ask him to sit and have a conversation, unless it’s about the melting point of copper or where to find 25 pounds of modeling clay. Our house is … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting
Tagged fishing, household projects, mackerel, teenage boys
8 Comments
The Last Armed Democrat
Our arsenal keeps growing. We already own a pretty good quality bow and arrow and several AirSoft guns; for those of you with pacifist sons or daughters only, these are “toy” weapons that shoot little round pellets, which are neither … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers
Tagged air soft, Democrats, guns, NRA, riflery
6 Comments
Camp is Just Ducky
It was a 603 number, and the caller ID read, “Merrimack Valley YMCA.” My heart dropped. My 13-year-old son had been at a YMCA sleepaway camp in New Hampshire for a little over a week, and he still had six … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers
Tagged camp nurse, duck itch, lake swimming, sleepaway camp
3 Comments
And Don’t Forget to Write
He didn’t even have his cellphone for comfort. Electronics, of course, are not allowed at summer camp, so when we dropped our 13-year-old son off yesterday at the bus that would take him into the wilds of New Hampshire, he … Continue reading
Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers
Tagged leaving the kids, summer camp, teenage boys, YMCA sleepaway camp
3 Comments