As the only female in my male dominated household, I\u2019ve become accustomed to some of the idiosyncrasies of my situation. Things I used to wonder and shake my head at no longer faze me and I ponder whether they\u2019ve rubbed off on me a little too much.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the constant need to throw everything.<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t we clear the table without lobbing the milk jug to our brother who is standing ready at the open fridge door?! Must the cloth be flung rather than passed across the table, only to land like a wet blanket over top of my dinner. But as much as it drives me crazy, I\u2019ve jumped on board tossing trivets (silicone mats for my pot) like Frisbees to one of many willing receivers every time we set the table. And more than once, I\u2019ve caught myself tossing food or salt and pepper shakers and wondering how it\u2019s come to this<\/strong><\/span>. But I must admit, the speed with which a table can be set when everything gets chucked across the kitchen is quite remarkable and I\u2019ve even learned (at times) to appreciate it.<\/p>\n Our dinner table conversations are not constantly punctuated with burps or farts, but it does happen more often than I\u2019d like. I haven\u2019t completely changed my ways, and I don\u2019t just \u2018let it rip\u2019 off the dining room chair, but I\u2019ve learned to roll my eyes and carry on with our conversation rather than investigate the culprit and wait for the appropriate \u201cexcuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n I just don\u2019t have the energy.<\/p>\n But the thing I just can\u2019t get on board with, that I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever understand, is their \u201cdo first and think later\u201d mentality. Not to say this hasn\u2019t benefited me. The boys have super quick reactions and Steve has saved more than one of our children from injury by sacrificing himself and jumping in while I\u2019m still processing the situation. But the number of injuries, close calls and embarrassing moments due to this way of thinking, or should I say not<\/strong> thinking, is staggering to me.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve learned the futility of asking, \u201cwhy?\u201d or \u201cwhat were you thinking?\u201d There is usually a blank stare, some stammering and an answer that is simply not satisfying to a frustrated mother.<\/p>\n \u201cCaleb, why did you tell your baby brother to jump off your bunk bed?<\/em>\u201d as we head to the hospital for x-rays. \u2014Uhh\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cDrew, why did you waste dozens of raw eggs for target practice on the barn wall?<\/em>\u201d \u2014Ahh\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cAiden, why were you playing tag with your eyes closed?<\/em>\u201d as we head to the clinic for stitches \u2014Umm\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cOwen, why would you use dad\u2019s razor-sharp utility blade to whittle a fishing rod?<\/em>\u201d as we head to the clinic for more stitches \u2014 Huh\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cLevi, why did you \u2018pants\u2019 your brother in front of the soccer team as he hung from the monkey bars?<\/em>\u201d \u2014Hmm\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cSteve, why did you think cornering a fully-grown ram was the best way to capture him?<\/em>\u201d as we straighten out his broken and crooked nose \u2014Well, now\u2026I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n But I think the worst one of all, the one that still makes me shake my head and turns my cheeks red was the day Caleb decided to act on an impulse that was most definitely not thought out.<\/p>\n Our youth pastor was standing at the front of the youth, giving a serious talk about something. Caleb, like the faithful, co-operative participant he usually was, sat in the front row listening, when he noticed that Koenraad\u2019s shirt was different than most. Instead of being a button up shirt like he was accustomed to seeing on his dad, it was held together by snaps.<\/p>\n And what happened next is the exact reason I\u2019ll never fully understand my men.<\/p>\n Caleb reached out with those lightning fast reflexes I was talking about, grasped both sides of the bottom of Koen\u2019s shirt and yanked in opposite directions. What followed was the satisfying sound of seven snaps ripping apart, an abrupt end to Koenraad\u2019s sermon<\/strong><\/span> as he looked down and saw his bare chest exposed for everyone to see, and the light bulb moment when Caleb\u2019s eyes widened, his mind caught up with what his hands had done and he finally considered, \u201cwhy?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n And the inevitable answer, \u201cUhhhhhhh\u2026I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n I may have become desensitised to much of the male behaviour that goes on in my household, but I think it\u2019s safe to say that they will not completely convert me. As the lone female in the house, I still cling to a few girly things and you never know, someday, their future girlfriends\/wives may thank me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the only female in my male dominated household, I\u2019ve become accustomed to some of the idiosyncrasies of my situation. Things I used to wonder and shake my head at no longer faze me and I ponder whether they\u2019ve rubbed off on me a little too much. Flinging cloths and tossing trivets There\u2019s the constant […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":3954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-3953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3953"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=3953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What were you thinking?<\/h2>\n
Surprised by snaps<\/h2>\n