Boy: Noise With Dirt On It

I come from a family of girls. Three sisters. No brothers. Even our dog was a girl. My sisters and mom also have muscular dystrophy, so things were pretty mellow growing up around our house.

Enter Carter.

Five years old.
150% boy.

This kid has two energy modes: psychotic and asleep. He asks questions like a machine gun: one right after another. All. Day. Long. He has Midas' touch, except instead of things turning to gold, they get broken. If he had it his way, he'd spend everyday dressed up in his Spiderman costume, running up and down the street shooting innocent passersby with his invisible web-shooter screaming, "Hahaha! Gotcha!".

I'd talk to my neighbor, my mom, my friends. I told them how defiant and stubborn he could be. Apparently, "that's just what boys do".
Like I said. Psychotic.

After a while, I found myself not wanting to be around him. The summer days were long and hot, and life with three kids got pretty exhausting. I began counting down the days until school started. It could not come fast enough.

Until it did.

Suddenly, it was the day before kindergarten and I felt something new and unexpected. I felt...sad! I was sad that Carter was going to school! My little guy! I looked at him a lot that day. He seemed so little. So innocent. So eager-eyed and ready to jump into life with both feet.

Feeling this way surprised me. I wasn't his "real" mom. I'd only been in his life about a year and a half. He drove me nuts all the time. But I guess through all of that, we'd built a significant bond. I never realized how strong it had gotten, until I sent him off on the bus and I felt a little tug on my heartstring.

He's growing up.