A brilliant friend of mine called her new boyfriend a 'gentleman savage' on Facebook this week, and it struck a chord in me. It's quite possibly the best description of what I want my boys to be when they are grown. I want them to be wild and free, but with a heart for Jesus, good manners (as needed), great work ethic, and a tender love for their spouses and children.
I've often called my sons wild hooligans and this is often a good reflection of them, as they are loud, rowdy and sometimes (OK, often) obnoxious. I've even been known to call my children feral, and this is occasionally true of their behavior. However, both of these less-than-stellar nicknames are said with much affection and deep love and they don't appear to be offended by either one.
This is my life as their mama in a nutshell. Dastroyah decided this weekend after church that he was going to turn his much beloved Pathfinder into a dune buggy of sorts, and there was MUCH laughter in the front yard as the best demolition crew in the lower 48 tore that poor thing to bits. Once they were satisfied that it looked the way they wanted, Dastroyah, PattyCakes, Alex and Nathan piled in for a test run. They were shirtless, filthy, and loud, and for a split second I considered hushing them and telling them to clean up and get shirts on before they headed out. But another split second later, listening to them laugh together and watching the camaraderie between all of them, I swallowed my desire to hush them and just enjoyed watching them drive away with their arms, mouths, and legs flying. I dared a peek at Hercules who was supervising the buggy project while working on his Beast of a Truck, and the joy in his eyes was unmistakable from the time spent with them. A few minutes later, they returned and all tried to shout over one another to tell us how the test drive went and how they were already making plans to change this or that. Then they went in the house, ate everything, cleaned up a little and tumbled out the door again like a rabid 4 headed Tasmanian devil to share their special brand of crazy with someone else. One of them even remembered to bellow thank you as they went out the door.
And so they are...wild and free, but with a heart for Jesus, good manners (as needed), great work ethic, and a tender love for their mama.
My work here is done.
#GentlemanSavage
3 comments:
That was awesome! We feel the same way about our boys. While I do have daughters that I love, I love my boys in a different way and it melts my heart when one of them shows me some love.(which is pretty often)
I sort of love that terminology! Gentleman savage has a nice ring to it
I just re-read this, and it still makes my heart so happy. They may not be perfect, but they are pretty darn close in my estimation.
My cup overfloweth.
This week, my gentlemen savages sent me to the Motor Vehicle Department to get my new-to-me car on the road. Adeline Alero Meyer is now legally road-worthy and insured, and Mama K is back to being independently mobile. Woot!
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