I'm Not Raising a "Girly" Boy

One day I saw a plastic sword moving slowly towards my neck. I turned to “see” who was holding it, when I noticed a cute 3-year-old boy wearing a helmet and a towel cape strategically draped over his shoulders. Luckily, I had some experience dealing with this particular caped crusader. As I looked him deep in the eyes he cracked a smile, yelled “I’m Guard!,” turned away from me, and ran into the dining room. Whew, another close call!

As I began to sit down, I had to move a few toy cars and trains off the chair to avoid sitting on them. And while holding those toys in my hands, I realized something… I wasn’t raising a “girly” boy as I had feared would happen (because there is no “Daddy” figure in his life). With a sigh of relief as I started to relax in the chair here came that same caped crusader running around the corner again. A “knighted” Mommy doesn’t get much rest.

Anyway, in the beginning, I was worried because when I decided to create a little family through adoption, I told the adoption agency that I wanted to adopt a girl. After all, I was single and living with my sister at the time. I thought it would be best for the child.

Well, as I was buried in paperwork up to my eyeballs, something odd kept happening. I kept having these vivid dreams about being a Mommy to a beautiful baby. I’d wake up so immensely happy that I wished I could go back to sleep to keep dreaming. The strange part was that in my dreams, my child was a little boy- not a girl. I didn’t understand why I was dreaming about being a Mommy to a little boy when I knew I was at the top of the “official” list for any little girl that needed an adoptive family. I was basically guaranteed to be a Mommy to a little girl...

It just didn’t hit me yet.

Not until, my Mother called me one day and said that she had this dream that she was the Grandmother to a little baby boy. BINGO! It didn’t take me too long to realize that there was a little boy out there who was meant to be my son. I struggled with my decision for a few days… will I be the best Mommy for a little boy? Will I turn him into a “girly” boy because there would be no direct male-influence in his life?

I knew that this was the biggest test of my faith that I had ever experienced… and I left it up to God. I notified the agency that I was not looking to become a Mommy to just a girl and asked him to let me know of the next girl or boy who needs me.

Within a couple of weeks I got “the” call. It was a boy! I had never been so in awe. It all felt right. 100% right. From the day I brought my bundle of joy home to now- I have never regretted my decision to notify the agency of my change in heart about originally only wanting to adopt a baby girl.

From jean overalls, to fascinations with superheroes and fire trucks, my son is “all” boy; I am all Mommy; and that’s ALL that matters.