Boys…and boy things!

Secretly, before I ever had kids, I only wanted boys. I would have been more than thrilled with a girl, but I just like boy stuff better. Cars and trucks, sticks and ant farms, toads and mud- I just felt like I’d better connect to raising boys. So imagine my joy when both of my children were boys! (Not that girls can’t like those thing too, but stereotypically, they are more boyish.)

Growing up, I loved going camping. I thought this was normal for a girl. Every time we went I’d invite my girl friends along…yet they always snubbed their nose at the idea and on the off chance they came along, they typically hated it. But not me, I loved it! We had a pop up camper that we took to Hueston Woods often. I loved falling asleep to rain just outside the camper. I loved waking up to dew on the ground and believe it or not, I didn’t mind the gross shower facilities.

So, again, my excitement continued at the thought of boys, because with them I could share my joys of camping. But see, camping when I was a child involved a camper, a comfy bed with sheets (up off of the ground!), a built in kitchen, electricity, restrooms and showers very close by- really it was “girly camping” as I now call it. When I told my husband I was interested in taking the kids camping and such, he got excited too. However, I very quickly realized we had two totally different things in mind.

His idea of camping was the (cheaper) more boyish route of a tent, sleeping bags on the ground and a lantern. Not exactly my vision of a good time- I couldn’t wrap my mind around enjoying the dew or the rain when I was pretty much sleeping directly on and under it with nothing but a piece of material between us. With my girly camping, I was 4 feet off the ground and I had a physical roof over my head- not a piece of material that folds up small enough to fit in my purse. However, in the spirit of having boys, and seeing their excitement on the matter, I’m trying to adjust my ideas of camping into a more boyish way. We have a tent, the three of them have sleeping bags and they (maybe we, if I happen to remember to pick up a sleeping bag for myself at some point. I may just accidentally forget though…) are going to go for a trial run in Pappy’s backyard before we head to the campground.

Secretly, I hope they love it and one day we can move on up to a camper and relive some of my fondest memories as a child- now with my own children!

Side note: I’m really not a girly girl… You won’t find me in high heels and sitting at a fashion show stressing over my hair and makeup. However, I can’t quite bring myself to tenting… I’m happily somewhere in the middle (like in a camper, with electricity!).