I just totally earned a TON of bonus points with my boys this weekend. Daddy and Chloe went camping so the boys and I got to spend a bunch of extra time together. I knew they would think much higher of me if I were to suggest we go see a 'boy movie'. I NEVER watch 'boy movies'. Ok, I confess, I did just recently watch The Amazing Spiderman 2 and lived to tell about it. It wasn't as bad as I had assumed it would be. Normally, when the boys want to see a comic book movie or action/adventure movie, it's Chuck who takes them. Afterall, he is a former boy, he gets it. He still likes that stuff. Me - not so much.
I checked the listings of the local theater and found Godzilla to be one of the only options of acceptable movies to go see. So I suggested to the boys we go check it out. Their immediate response was, "Are you sure you want to see this mom?" A reasonable question given their intimate knowledge of my likes and dislikes. "Sure, " I said, "I just want to do something with y'all that I know you would enjoy." They were stoked.
Of course going to our favorite pizza joint before the movie only served to raise my cool factor that much higher. And then there was the movie. I really thought I could make it through it. I figured how bad could it really be? There really aren't words to describe my feelings about that movie.
As soon as the show was over and we were walking out the boys asked me, "So, Mom, how did you like it?" eager for my response. I didn't want to kill the mood, so I just said, "I'll have to tell you later. How did you like it?" Of course it was incredibly awesome to them in that gory, destructive, loud, unrealistic way boys see the world.
Once we get in the car Gavin is like, "So was it the sensory overload that got to you or all the destruction?" Oh how he knows me. "Both, actually. And the fact that is was so completely unrealistic. But I can see how if you love science-fiction, that movie was probably really cool to you." Then Bennett piped in with, "At one point I was about to tell you that you didn't have stay in here and watch it, you could wait outside for us, but then this really awesome part happened and I forgot to tell you and figured you'd probably want to see that part." How thoughtful.
The boys really were so super thankful that I would do something with them that they knew I really didn't like. Because it's not about me. Rather, it was about me doing something that I knew they really liked and I like them so, why not put up with an unrealistic, loud, poorly acted, loud, destructive, loud, violent, loud movie for 2 hours. It was the least I could do to show my love.
All of parenthood is a sacrifice. It starts off that way and never ends. It's brutal at the beginning, sacrificing your sleep, all your free time, all your money; their needs are instantly more important than your own. After a while, they become more self sufficient and independent needing less and less of us. That's the plan. They shouldn't need us as much, but want us. I recently heard a quote that said: "It isn't a sacrifice unless it costs you something."
I sacrificed my sanity, peace of mind and eardrums for my boys so they would know how much I loved them and wanted to hang out with them doing what they loved to do. Their love tanks are full now. They were so incredibly thankful all day and kept thanking me over and over. It truly does feel better to give than to receive.
