The Man Mystery

Now that I'm living with two of the opposite sex (three if you count Max), I must say that there are a lot of differences between men and women. I don't think I really noticed it so much growing up since Dad was outnumbered 5:1 (or 7:1 if you counted the dog and my cat).

Here's what I've come to realize about boys/men:

1. They're messy. I've either created a house where I'm the picker-upper or boys/men are naturally hardwired to leave a wake of destruction everywhere. It doesn't matter if they're 17 months old or 33 years old -- the male species is a mess. I spend a good chunk of my night cleaning up after Luke and Adam. Luke for obvious reasons, but Adam must have some serious aversion to using the dishwasher. He has no problem taking his dishes to the sink, but that's about as far as they go. Rinsing and putting them in the dishwasher isn't happening. Oh -- and why, oh why, is it necessary to use 100 dishes when you cook? Or, three drinking glasses in one afternoon? Good grief.

2. They like to fiddle with stuff. Luke will spend a good amount of time taking things apart, putting them back together, pushing them back and forth. And, it seems Adam does the same thing. I came home from work today to find some "work" he'd done to the walls which we just had painted yesterday. They looked just fine to me, but he found some spots that just weren't right and needed fixin'.

3. They like to fiddle with their own stuff. At one pediatrican visit, I told the doctor, "Luke sure does play with his little penis alot." She didn't seem phased at all. "Yeah. He'll do that for the rest of his life."

4. They like machines. Trucks, cars, gadgets, remotes. The male species definitely zeroes in on machinery. When Luke started showing interest (er ... obsession) in trucks, Mom said we (my sisters and I) never did that -- we loved dolls. I swear it's instinctual for them. Luke will even use a truck to plow over an innocent stuffed animal.

I guess the rough-around-the-edges trait about men is what makes us love them so much. I know I spend a lot of my time being thankful for these two messy boys in my life. And, if we have another little boy ... whoowhee ... at least I have some practice already.