Loving and Raising Boys

My 5-year-old found the card I’d purchased for his father to wish him a happy Valentine’s Day and immediately objected to the idea of my having any Valentine other than him. While this strong-willed child has objections every day, this one felt different. He seemed almost wounded to consider that I could ever love another as much as I love him. He is my younger son, my baby, after all.

For all the stories I’ve yet to tell about parenting boys, loving little boys when they’re sweet and all yours brings a joy unlike any other. This feeling of being loved, needed, and exclusively desired is undoubtedly one of the best parts of raising boys. Since I have another son, older and wiser in his two-year age difference, I know that I’m enjoying but a blip in time that will soon end. One day, he will start shielding his eyes when people kiss on tv and say “yuck!” when I ask if he has his own sweetheart at school.