Pre-Man Walks through My Halls

A "pre-man" walks through the halls of my house.  I have been through this journey three other times, I hope I am ready!  All the signs are there....he towers over me, masculine hair grows on his face, his feet enter the room before his body, odors once unfamiliar are a daily occurrence, our food budget has increased and  he has noticed girls and they have noticed him.  The voice has dropped and sounds like his brothers, leaving me guessing who it is when they call.  His hair has become a very big deal....oops, I cut the bangs too short. He will survive, even though he wants to know how to make his hair grow faster.

Such a precious time of growth for both him and I. This is the time I must step back and remember not to treat him like his four-year-old brother.  I have to give him some room.  I have to learn to respect his manhood.

I also must now relinquish some of the time I have had with him to his father.  Late night adventures or sports watching has become a regular event in our house with his Dad.  The four-year-old and I go to bed, they stay up for bonding time.

Past experience has taught me well...I hope...that this is also the time where he will assert his masculine headship.  He will have to learn to continue to obey and love his mom, while I remember that one day he will run a household.  I have to discern if his actions are rebellion or just stretching his wings.  My comment to my oldest was that every time he stretched his wings, I was the one who got knocked over...but we both survived.  I never want my sons to be so hen-pecked that that becomes their choice for a bride.  I want them to marry someone who is a helpmate and will walk with them.  Sometimes at this stage in parenting, the balance is hard to achieve.

I watch his passions, as I did the other boys.  For this one, it is computers and electronics instead of car engines and musical instruments.  He enjoys quiet time and too much stimulation wears him out.  He quietly bounces the basketball up and down the street.

I have read that they need time to think, so I am setting different priorities to make that time available.

This is also the season of the ROOM!!!  The first-born was good at keeping his clean until he returned from a month in Africa....the others...well, you could never see the floor.  Past brothers were known for placing caution signs across the door of their rooms.

Yes I have standards...but I have also learned to pick my battles.  His older brothers (who no longer live with us) keep their places clean and know how to clean...so I accomplished something, even if at times I doubted they would ever learn.

Again, I watch and enjoy my son turning into the Man God has called him to be...not just my idea, but what God wants.  Again, I grow teary-eyed that I can't pick him up and kiss away the wounds of the world.  Again...this mother has to step back and enjoy the process, by not holding on too tight.  I am slowly releasing my apron strings.

Proverbs 4 - "Hear, O sons, the instructions of a father......When I was a son in to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Then he taught me and said to me, Let your heart hold fast my words, Keep my commandments and live...."

Sons...what a precious gift...what an awesome responsibility..............how much FUN!!!!