Sweaty sweetie

My sweet, sweet Grayson.  He wants so badly to be all masculine and rough and tumble like his friends, but inside him is this beautiful soul that just won't let him be that way all the time.  He is testing the waters of rough-housing and masculine aggression, and he definitely likes that stuff, don't get me wrong! 

He had his cousins over to play after school today, and they spent the short time they were together acting like testosterone crazed lunatics.  They formed a rock band in the playroom (lots of loud drumming and VERY loud singing.  you couldn't even hear the guitar.), played football outside, & spoke at full volume for the duration.  Grayson was so happy doing that while they were here, and I am so glad he has them to be crazy with.

But you know what I love more?  I love that within minutes of their departure he was picking flowers for me to wear in my hair.  He wanted to sit in my lap while we played with sidewalk chalk with Grant.  And that photo at the top?  He set the whole thing up himself.  He picked the flowers, arranged them just right, and then sat his sweaty little self down in the middle of them and asked me to snap the picture.  I want that sweetness to stay forever.  My biggest fear as he grows up is that one day he will lose it.  One day I might turn around and he will be a man, too tough to be sweet to mama, or too masculine to enjoy the simple beauty of life.

But I know he has a good example in his daddy of a man who is balanced in all these things.  He has a model who is both sensitive and strong, manly and beautiful.  It is possible to rear a well balanced man in this crazy world.  I just hope I'm doing it right!