Boys will be boys and break your things.

Here is something I've learned from being a mother to two boys: 

Boys are insane. 

I am the youngest of three girls, so before this I really had no idea what little boys were like. For example I wasn't aware of how much they love to hurt and damage people and things.

Since the day he was born, I have hugged and kissed my three-year-old incessantly. Maybe even too much. I don't know. And yet, and yet, the only thing he ever wants to do to his little brother is poke him in the face and tackle him to the ground. 

I asked him once, "Why do you always hit your baby brother?" And do you know what he said to me? Do you? 

"Because I love to, Mom."

He loves to. Oh boy.

The baby is no angel either, of course, because he is also a boy. For example, if you place any object atop another object in my house, it immediately becomes the baby's mission in life to knock that object down. It doesn't matter what it is; it must be knocked down right now. 

He really hates when one thing is on top of another thing. 

My friend has a child about the same age as my older son, but hers is a girl. I remember visiting her at her house and noticing a bowl filled with little decorative wicker balls (pictured above for your reference) on her coffee table. I was like "Whoa we better move these, right?" And she was like "Why?" And I was like "Because surely our children will knock those over and break/eat them." And she was like "What? No they won't." And I was like "OH MY GOD WHY ARE BOYS THE WORST?"

But of course I'm kidding; clearly my children are better than any other children ever born, despite their destructive behavior toward knickknacks. I am just a little confused by them. I don't know which behaviors to punish and which are an unavoidable part of their DNA. Then again, even though I can't keep nice things, or things-atop-things, I know I'll be compensated in ten years when they are just hungry and sleepy, while my friend's daughter hates her for not buying the right American Eagle top. 

Not a terrible trade.