2013 Time Flies

It is January 2013, and I feel like life is speeding by. I am as busy as ever. I thought life would calm down with two of the boys gone to College, but no it hasn't.
Christmas Vacation this year was spent with all four boys home for two weeks. It amazed to me how much our family dynamics had changed. We see each other and attend school functions and weekends together all Fall long, it wasn't like we hadn't seen or been together since the start of College this last Fall, but things still changed drastically. All four under the same roof and it was so much calmer, more mature then ever before; well MOST of the time. The boys all got along and rarely did they argue even after me telling them they needed to help with the household chores. They all usually groan about that but shockingly there was very little rumbling and mostly just getting up, taking a chore and completing it. Now for a Mom who has spent the last twenty-one plus years picking up after a five to one ratio and for three years a six to one ratio of men verses women this has probably shocked me the most. Oh the competitiveness is still there and the teasing but it is mostly the intense friendship that I witnessed  This probably sticks out in my mind more then anything else because this has always been something I have encouraged in my sons since birth. Friends in this life come and go but your brothers and your family is forever... I can't tell you how many times I have told one little boy or another this after huge fights or black eyes or skinned knees.  I remember those days fondly, holding that little ball of energy on my lap while they sobbed so hard you'd think their little bodies couldn't contain all the sorrow and almost always it was sobs more about their own behavior even if the brother had ultimately ended the confrontation by landing a punch. Most of the time it was feeling ashamed of their own behavior and whatever knickknack or piece of furniture that got broken in the midst of the fight that caused the most tears or sorrow. Now I see all those days of repeating myself and hoping and praying they heard me coming to realization. As I watch them play video games together or discuss the latest sports score and teams I see such love for one another and respect shinning through. I am also sending out lots of praise and thanks to God for all the answered prayers and that they have arrived at this point in life in one piece, together.
Too many families are fractured and broken. I am so glad my boys have learned the lessons we tried so hard to instill on them as little rambunctious toddlers and young boys. It makes me look back on those days of little or no sleep and of howling children and those times I longed for silence with tenderness and a bit of nostalgia  They aren't those little boys who flooded the bathroom or tried to wash the cat, but they are young men who are loving and protective of each other and their parents and Grandparents. They are smart and best of all those four best friends love and serve God while nurturing their relationship with each other.