Longer Stories

Boys Will Be Boys

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Stream of Consciousness – “What’s that smell?”,
Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – “humility” and
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – “departure”.

Growing up, it was just me and my sister – two girls doing girl things. And while we weren’t always best of friends, it was just the two of us. It wasn’t my fault that my mother went into labor smack in the middle of my sister’s 4th birthday party; after making a hasty departure for the hospital, my mother arrived just in time for me to be born …. on my sister’s birthday …. and she’s never really forgiven me. I mean, she says she has but deep down there’s resentment. But I digress.

Bitterness for being born on her birthday aside, we managed to get along ok. And we both had a bunch of little girlfriends who’d come over the house to play and swim in our pool. There’s a definite advantage to having the only pool on the block – even if it was inflatable and barely three feet deep. We always had lots of friends over but there were never any boys around and, if an interloper did show up, he was quickly shown the way out before he had a chance to dip his you-know-what in our pool!

For the first six years of my life, I had very little contact with boys .… except for my cousins and they didn’t count. In elementary school boys were just tolerated; they were looked upon as excess baggage. Of course, that all changed when I hit my teen years and realized boys had potential. I had a couple of crushes early on but nothing earth-shattering. Then, at the ripe old age of 17, I went on a blind date with a guy named Bill and together we learned all about boys and girls, how they were so wondrously different and incredibly well-made for each other. I was stunned by how much I didn’t know about boys.

So, wouldn’t you just know it! God, in his infinite humorous nature, decided to bless me with only boy babies. All those years of playing with my baby girl dolls, changing their diapers fashioned from paper napkins, powdering their petite girlie bottoms, all that didn’t come close to what these boys were packing! It didn’t matter how well I knew Bill’s anatomy; he didn’t wear a diaper and I had never changed one …. at least not a boy’s. Talk about a rude awakening!

Let me just explain something very quickly here. When infant girls are getting their diapers changed, sometimes they pee but it’s a dainty little trickle that gently disappears into the absorbent pad under them. When infant boys are getting their diapers changed, parents put on a hazmat suit because that nozzle has a mind of its own and it is gonna spray wherever it wants.

Oh sure, parents can buy little wee-wee teepees to hold over the wee-wee while their baby boy giggles at them, but most times that thing is flying around like an errant garden hose and the pee goes everywhere. And, of course, that’s where men first learn to pee with no hands – yawning and stretching and placing their hands behind their heads in a very satisfied “look-what-I-can-do” sort of way. Usually in those situations, there will be spillage. I have found, for the most part, the male species is not very discriminating and is quite happy to just “hit something“.

Which brings me to the heart of this story.

I love my boys and, in all humility, Bill and I did a good job raising them. BUT, nature will take its course no matter what we do. And let me tell you, there is nothing …. and I mean NOTHING …. like the overwhelming musky, barn-like odor that punches you in the face when you open the door to a boy’s bedroom. For the love of all things holy, what is going on in there? How is it possible for boys …. little or big …. to ravage so many briefs, boxers or tighty-whities in one day, not to mention the now-fossilized face cloths (and sometimes my good hand towels)?

We’re all adults here and you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Well, I finally reached the end of my rope. It became unbearable for me to do my teen sons’ laundry, let alone keep up with it, so I threw down the gauntlet. I led the boys to the laundry room where I proceeded to write on my washing machine with a Sharpie. In all the corresponding receptacles were the words “DETERGENT GOES HERE.” “BLEACH GOES HERE.” “SOFTENER GOES HERE.” I’m sure they didn’t believe me when I said I was done doing their wash. After two weeks of their laundry piling up and them running out of clean clothes and their sheets desperate enough to literally walk off the bed and leap into the washing machine, they finally got the message!

As the old saying goes, boys will be boys, and I never had a problem with what was going on in my sons’ bedrooms …. within reason; if I thought something dangerous was happening, I’d be in there in a flash. I’d just had enough of cleaning up their messes. Now they’re grown men, good men, married with children, and they get to deal with their own kids’ smells, sprays, spills and secretions.

And when I see them lugging a basketful of laundry to their washing machines, I chuckle and know I did them a huge favor.

NAR©2024

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS May 18, 2024
Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Humility
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – Departure

One of my readers once commented that I have a song for every story. Well, who am I to argue?

From the Broadway show/movie Hair, this is “Sodomy”.

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

42 thoughts on “Boys Will Be Boys”

  3. You just reminded me of when I had my first daughter. In the hospital, I was exhausted and in a lot of pain, and a nurse did my newborn daughter’s nappy change, and I heard this: “(Expletive!) She pees like a boy!” Yes, my tiny baby girl, who must have had a very full bladder, had managed to get the nurse in the face.

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  4. No wonder you liked my post, Nancy. lol. Girl power.. laughing here “if an interloper did show up, he was quickly shown the way out before he had a chance to dip his you-know-what in our pool!”
    I made my kids do the wash too and we did them a service for sure. I only have one boy out of 4 but he’s the cleanest of the bunch.. go figure.. Thanks for the laughs💓😉

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    1. There isn’t a mom out there who can’t relate to my story and yours, Cindy! Life has been good with lots of adventure and laughs. You can’t ask for much more than a happy life with good kids and a loving partner; everything else is just gravy.

      Thanks so much for your comments, my friend! ♡

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    1. Yes, Isadora …. I’m sure you’re right. The trick is to say it and mean it. Our kids aren’t going to die stranded in their rooms because we stop doing their laundry. They may not like it at first but, just like everything else in life that’s thrust upon us, they will adapt.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts today!

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      1. LOL I did mean it and my daughter knew it. We made a concession: She left the basket outside of her bedroom door, and I, placed the clean clothers baskets and hangered clothing outside after doing it. I know. I should have let her do her own. But, I enjoy doing laundry. Like a book, there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. A very satifying feeling. 🤪 Great topic ❤️

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  8. This is a good tale of how a mother’s frustration with her son’s slovenly behaviors eventually led them to the path of caring. Moms can’t and shouldn’ do it all.

    I am amazed today at how many men are unable to fend for themselves and are looking for a woman to be their caretakers. They claim they can’t do laundry, cook, clean their living quarters, shop for groveries or manage their households. Pathetic.

    I was an orphan and lived in a single parent household. My siblings and myself shared household chores while my mom worked. Doing these tasks made us self sufficient and competent adults able to fend for ourselves.

    We discovered that when you have to take care of your living quarters you pay a lot more attention to its ambience and appearance. I think that is called responsibility.

    Bravo for putting your foot down in this matter.

    More moms should liberate themselves from this scenario.

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    1. Bravo, Gerry! Let’s hear it for a forward-thinking man who appreciates all the work women have to do and is not afraid to tell it like it is, pitch in and get his hands dirty!

      Your comments were brilliant and not false flattery; they were based on fact, personal experience and common sense. Thank you for sharing not only your very fair and honest opinion but your personal story as well.

      There are many cultures today where the woman still waits on the man hand and foot; some women consider it an honor, others think of it as a duty and others, I’m sure, would love to be free of it.

      Being Sicilian, I’ve seen that type of mothering of males of all ages; it was and is prevalent. I had an aunt who not only plated her adult sons’ food, she cut their meat for them and sprinkled grated cheese on their pasta! She did everything except feed them! Is it any wonder that none of her sons were able to stay married? Depending on the culture, many women these days have no desire to cater to the childish demands of a grown man …. nor should they. My aunt is solely responsible for her sons’ stunted maturation and evolution. No doubt she meant well but her good intentions came back to bite her.

      My older grandchildren are tweens and young teens, both boys and girls; this is the perfect time for them to start doing their own laundry. They already do their other designated chores so there’s no reason they shouldn’t assume the laundry as well.

      I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your views. That was a very special eye-opening experience.

      Thanks, Gerry!

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  9. Ha ha! You were more patient than me! At age 12, everyone in my house got to do their own laundry because I was sick and tired, and totally confused, why it took three bath towels to take one shower, and all I was doing was laundry, laundry, laundry. One boy, one girl, and that was more than enough.

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  10. Buahahahaha! I’ll start by the end because of the song your chose! I’m sitting here, killing myself laughing.

    Now, that said, I am the eldest of three girls. We did have male cousins but who knew about the nitty-gritty of that stuff…

    How ironic I also ended up with three boys. And guess what? Just because I was fed up… they were taught how to do their laundry at the ages of 15 or so, too. To hell with that job for me, thank you very much.

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    1. Thank God, they are well and happily married now with kids of their own and lots of laundry to wash. They’re also cooking!

      Both my daughters-in -law are in the medical profession and very busy women; they need all the help they can get. I’m proud of my sons for doing whatever needs doing without grousing.

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  15. I have one son and two daughters. But since we teach our kids to be clean early on and wash themselves because they have to pray, I didn’t have to face those hassles. As for cleaning the room of my son, I handed him the job when he was in high school.

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    1. You’re most fortunate, Sadje. Thankfully, my boys always had daily showers! I don’t regret at all teaching them to be self-sufficient at a young age. Both men and women should know the basics about keeping a home and cooking. Many Italian men my age do not help their wives with much; that’s the way they were raised …. to be waited on hand and foot. Some are still like that today! I see that in accomplishing nothing but stunting a man’s growth and loading up a woman with more work.

      I appreciate your comments.

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      2. Okay, singly mom nmn here just jumping in here to mention the ickiness and frequency of snaking the shower drain. My boy took a lot of REALLY long showers

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    1. Boys and girls each have their pros and cons. I always thought it was easier raising boys but my friends with girls say just the opposite. The one thing I am eternally grateful for is that they were good boys who didn’t get into trouble or get messed up with drugs.

      My grands help out a fair amount around the house. Now they need to start doing their own laundry!

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