I'm not alone

This is a post I've been waiting to write. I've wanted to get this up for quite a while, but I've never got around to finishing it.

Some time ago I heard a story that made me realize that I'm not alone as a parent.

Many of our friends have girls. Perfect little princesses. Kids who you can trust in a home with nice things. Kids who would never dream of acting out the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene with their siblings.

Our boys are fairly polite and have pretty good manners but they are little fireballs of energy. They will touch and grab and climb and fight and lick and rip and pull almost anything they can get their hands on. And we've learned to live with that. They are boys. We've learned how to deal with them in public and keep them on a very short leash.*

So, when I heard that one of our friends took his daughters out in public by himself and they turned into little she-devils, it made me a little happy in a way. Kinda giddy. Now, I was sorry for him and felt really bad that he had to be alone with the girls when they started fighting and licking products and acting like, well like Daniel and Josh. But it made me feel like we are not alone. Even those kids that seem like perfect angels can lash out and act like kids.

I think I'd rather have it our way. Because the boys are fairly consistent in their volatility, we can expect it and have come up with ways of controlling and redirecting the energy. If it was infrequent and sudden, I think I'd snap.

To the parents in question: I know you are reading this and I hope I've protected your identity well enough. You know we love you and your kids. I'm not really happy that they are bad, but I am happy to know that they have moments of reality. :)

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*Not literally. Well, not usually anyway.