Profile of a Real Boy

Have you ever watched Charlie Brown? You know the character "pig pen"? He has a dirt cloud around him everywhere he goes...and his face is always dirty. I think I am raising a pig pen descendant in my home. This poor child. To look at him, you'd think he was an orphan. It doesn't matter how early we get him up, how long we spend getting him ready, how MANY TIMES we redo his hair or tuck in his shirt....he just falls to pieces from top to bottom in a nano-second. He's the one we find outside with his shirt all the way unbuttoned, running around like a Hispanic gang banger...all he needs is a giant medallion hanging around his neck. He can never find his shoes, because he left them outside in the rain. His favorite orange t-shirt he buried in the dirt to see what would happen to it. Well, it's in the trash. Some bug got a hold of it, and there were so many holes in it, it just wasn't worth saving. He filled the ice trays with soapy water, to see what would happen when it froze. I can tell you what happened, Daddy's sweet tea bubbled at dinner that night. He spills something at every meal. When he gets chicken nuggets at McDonalds, the dip pack explodes all over him. He doesn't own a tie without stains on it...and he usually doesn't eat in his dress clothes! (Figure that one out for me!) It's not like we are raising him different than the other boys. HE is just different.

He is also our boldest wittness. He never meets a stranger. He is overly friendly to everyone, and never forgets a name. On deputation he is our "public relations" man, passing out prayer cards, "Hey did ya get one of these?" He invites most little people he meets to church, asking them, "are you a Christian?" In your face and to the point. He is the subject of most of my stories, good and bad. He is 110% all boy. The poster child for ADHD. I actually considered getting a sample of Ritallin to see if it would calm him down any. (I didn't, I have my own opinion on that stuff) He is my rough and tough boy. He's a joy and a terror. He also has a fierce sense of justice...loudly pointing out when his brothers are not being fair. Yet, he is also political...remaining very quiet when he is unfair to them. What would the world be, without real boys?