I love getting to go home to Nebraska and visit with my mom. She is always good for a meaningful quote, a Bible verse or poem–memorized to seal her point.
This past Thanksgiving we were talking about W trading Legos with a good friend. I think it’s really cool and a great way to learn to ‘weigh and measure’ the possible conciquences of a chosen deal. She agreed and recited a poem. A poem from a magazine long ago (the author’s name long since forgotten) about boys coming of age.
A boy should search through alleys now and then,
to cultivate a careful eye for treasure.
And be on terms with junkyard men,
To learn which things to weigh and which to measure.
A boy should learn to bargain on his own.
Without a weary parent intervening.
Dealing and dickering all alone,
To win or lose but learn a dollars meaning.
Though high-walled neighbors find his methods crude,
and maiden aunts declare it ‘not quite nice’,
for one of tender age to be so shrewd.
In twenty years, will ask for his advice.
I love it and pray I can stay my mother bear instinct long enough to get out of the way once in a while. To just watch mistakes being made and observe triumphs as my boys grow, hopefully being there to congratulate or help pick up the pieces.
Simply,
Sis
Tags: a mother of boys, a poem about boys, boys, coming of age, rites of passage
