Braving Boys

They appear as mere specks, but here, my boys dive for the very first time off the high dive at a city swimming pool. We’d never been to this pool before today, even though we’ve looked at it countless times from the park/playground it neighbors.

This was just one stop on my tire-these-boys-out tour on this fine Thursday. Before splashing, diving and barreling down a twisty slide, my guys spent four hours at a sports-type camp. Then came the swim, then two hours at home (rib dinner included — found them at a grocery store this morning), then baseball practice for the big guy. They could do little more than shuffle themselves inside to hit the shower when it was all over, and now they sleep peacefully, like little angels, storing up more energy for another day.

Above: Danny, diving

Above: Joey, diving

Joey and I stopped at the grocery store after his baseball game tonight. He’s in love with Sonny’s BAR-B-Q ribs lately, and since we can’t afford to indulge in restaurant prices every night (which is what Joey would prefer), I told him I’d cook up a homemade batch tomorrow night in my new birthday crock pot. No such luck — no short ribs in stock (that’s what the meat guy said I needed). So I told Joey he could pick a treat instead. And I called Danny (he was at home with Dad) and asked him for his pick. As I checked out, with little-boy food in hand, it hit me: Danny is just like me, and Joey is just like John.

Give John something sweet, and he’ll probably demolish it. Give me something that resembles a cracker and comes in a box, and I’ll eat every last crumb.

Sitting before me at the kitchen counter is Danny, begging for his third bowl of Ritz crackers filled with fake cheese, and Joey, polishing off a big bowl of fudge swirl ice cream.

There’s a reason we don’t regularly keep snacks like these in our house — they’re just not nutritious, and we’d rather stock our kitchen with healthy grub. But when it comes down to it, it’s more likely that we shun the junk because we adults have no self-control. Will the crackers and ice cream sit untouched while little boys sleep tonight? I sure hope so.