Filed under: Moms, 2 years, Adventures in Parenting
One of my worst physical characteristics are my hands. I have a disturbing, life-long habit of biting my fingernails, and the tattered ends are ragged, worn. Nolan noticed them very quickly one of my earliest memories of his first words encompasses an early winter morning when he raised one of my embarrasing finger to his little face, studied it, and looked at me solemnly."It hurt,"he said, and raised it to his lips,"I kiss it. Better now."
I remember my eyes filling with tears at that small, awesome gesture.
"Yes,"I agreed,"It's much better now."
He's an extraordinarily affectionate little kid, his hand curls in mine as we read books in his bed, he stops in the middle of play to wrap his arms around my neck.
"I like Mommy."
I'm so shocked and comforted by his tenderness, this little human who loves me and all my jagged edges.
"I like Nolan, too," I say,"I like you more than infinity and the stars."
My brother witnessed one of these impromptu exchanges the other night. Nolan had propelled his hearty little body onto my lap and gathered my hair in a fit of adoration, clung tight to my neck and professed his love.
"You gotta be careful with him,"my mountain-man brother said, watching it all go down,"He's such a little Mama's boy."
"You were a Mama's boy, too," I replied, thinking of his childhood in the kitchen with my Mom, baking cookies and following her everywhere.
"Not that much," he retorted.
I looked at my son and thought about his absolute honesty in his emotions and though I don't want him teased in the locker room or beaten up for loving his Mama, I wouldn't want to discourage his open sweetness in any way. I'd like my son to be honest with his emotions and unafraid to express them. And as long as I'm not vacuuming his house and ironing his shirts when he's 27, I can't see any harm in cultivating a little Mama's boy. After all, people don't mock little girls for adoring their Dads, do they? I'm happy to soak up this unabashed affection, and an emotional little boy shouldn't be equated with a potentially bullied wuss, right?Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
