Tuesday, March 16, 2010

My Velveteen Boy

My velveteen boy betrayed me this evening.

It was so pretty outside today when I picked the kids up, we dressed them in their bib overalls and "orange, so that I can see you a mile away" sweatshirts and sent them out to dig up the yard! That is Sam and Jay's favorite pastime ... especially in the Spring when the ground is so soft. There is nothing like holes and piles of dirt everywhere. Our yard shrieks that "boys live here" and you have to be careful when where you walk so that you don't fall in a hole.

My littlest boy is now big enough to go outside and play with the big kids, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He runs and romps and keeps up with everyone just fine. He is now ruler, and when he runs his ears pin back and flap in the wind. His fur is soft and he feels like fat velvet ... but this evening he went missing, and we searched everywhere thinking the very worst.

Then as I was walking back from the pond ... I spotted him alone in the barn. He was having the time of his life as his short little legs jumped in the wet straw. He was burrowing as deep as he could in the muck and he only stopped long enough to glance at me as I yelled .... "Gus, get out of there!" He was on a mission ... and that was to make sure that every inch of his body was covered in the black slime.

My sweet little velveteen boy has betrayed me ... he has found life beyond me. The same world that my little boys live for ... a world of dirt and mud, and slime and cow poop!