Yes – my kid is cute, but please stop telling HIM that….

I have 3 boys. Ethan – the oldest – is my brooder – the one always thinking, trying to do good. However, he’s easily distracted and also has a short fuse for his brothers. Give him one or two step instructions & he’ll help you get all the laundry done (& remind him every few minutes which of those two steps he was on – but still, he’ll help). Then he’ll get angry cause while he’s being helpful, his brothers are not – they are “screwing around,” playing, undoing what he just did, etc. (yeah, I know – welcome the world of being a mom, kid – mom’s deal with that all day, every day). He tries though & he likes being helpful. He does worry too much about things that he doesn’t need to worry about but he’s got a big heart & he comes by worrying naturally – he gets it from me.

Now let’s move to Alex – middle child extraordinaire – the ladies’ man, class clown, people pleaser. He’s happy to help with whatever, so long as you wouldn’t actually consider it “work” and other people can see him doing it & pat him on the back 100 times. If it IS actual “work” (that darn dirty word) or there’s no one around to see him & give him credit beyond his family, he’s going to whine the entire time & probably complain because he “always does everything”…. Uh, nope – that would be the parents and/or your big brother, kid…you do the bare minimum to get the credit. He’s not all bad – he does a really good job helping as long as it’s not really chores or if it’s for someone other than his parents – so he’s a good helper for other people. He’s also a very good “friend” – looking out for his friends & making sure someone always has someone or something to play with. He doesn’t like to see anyone alone and definitely not upset – if that’s the case, he’ll charge right in cracking jokes and sharing whatever to cheer that person right up.

Then there’s Cameron – the baby, the runt – the one for whom the rules don’t apply…ever. He’s happy to help with whatever – NEVER – under no circumstances if it’s “work” will he be happy to help. If it’s fun – baking cookies, etc. – he’s up for helping with that but only the fun parts. If that batter gets tough to stir, he’s out….if he can’t eat the dough, he’s out. I shouldn’t say “never” – he is most happy to help keep tabs on everyone else & let you know exactly what they are doing wrong….even if he’s doing that same thing with that person – he’ll continue doing it while telling you that other one is doing that thing you said not to do – Uh? You’re doing it, too…”well, yeah, but that rule doesn’t apply to me, right?” He’s half the size his brothers were at his age and he revels in continuing to be considered “the baby” by everyone cause he’s just so little & cute. We tell him to do something, he smiles & says “no”….um, what? Someone else snickers & tells him how cute he is….ummmm, WHAT? My kid just flat out said “no” to me asking him to put his dish away & that’s “cute” to you cause he bats his little eyes & you think it’s funny? That is NOT helpful to me....He was getting in trouble at school & thought it was awesome – was so proud of it – cause so many people have told him he’s “cute” when he’s in trouble. You know what? He IS cute & I think it’s great that you want to tell him that – but pick your moments. Do NOT tell him he’s cute when he’s being mean, disrespectful, or disobedient. He’ll be the cutest kid in prison one day, too, if you keep that up.

All 3 of my boys have excellent traits. All 3 of them have some traits I really wish they didn’t. I wouldn’t trade them for the world though cause they are my boys – through & through (Cameron is so much my child – it’s scary – looks like me, tattle-tale like me, bossy-butt like me … I was more respectful though – wouldn’t have dared saying “no” to my parents like he does). They have traits from their daddy, too, I don’t get all the blame/credit – Ethan looks exactly like his daddy at that age; Alex is a clown like his daddy & has never met a stranger like his daddy; pretty sure that disrespect thing with Cameron came from his daddy – his mom says it came from Steve anyway. They all like to ham it up though & are quite cute when they do – please feel free to tell them how cute they are during THOSE times 😃