When little mischievous boys grow up they can make up for all the gray hairs, worry lines and frayed nerves they caused their mothers in the early days.
They become so handy and useful.
After years of sleepless nights, the crying and wailing, fighting, farting, throwing up in bed....
...They can make their parents forget all that stuff...
..by taking some of the load off their dad when their mom starts campaigning for home improvements.
...or by swinging the ax when we need firewood.
I might not dwell on the toddler age roof walking, the blowing up of stuff, the lost tools, broken dishes and muddy boots on my new carpet...
Little boys grow up to be young men who are pretty handy to have around.
The trick is to get through those early days without selling the little rascals to a band of traveling merchants. Lucky them we don't have a lot of those coming through these days.
This usefulness gives me a little bit of hope for the future.
I just have two more to go.
I just have two more to go.
Someday they'll have a chance to make up for this too.If I survive that long.