Tag: brothers

Have you ever been around a male- it doesn’t matter who- your husband, your brother, your dad, your friend, as they spend their down time watching something that seems so silly-that you just don’t get, like The Three Stooges?  As they sit there laughing uncontrollably,  with beer running down their face, (or drool)  do you look at this male, and wonder 1. why is this so funny,  and 2. when did this start? 

Being the mother of two boys, I have the answers to these questions.  If you are a mother of more than one boy, thanks for checking in today, but you can skip this post, because you know.  If you only have one boy, or have girls, keep reading- this post is for you.

Boys- they feed off of each other.  When there was only one boy, and he yelled out “pee” there wasn’t anyone else around to echo “pee.”  I don’t think Ryan even ever uttered the word “pee” outside of restroom before Cole was born.  If he did, he certainly wasn’t laughing about it.   When another boy is added to the mix, (like Cole), he yells, “pee,” then Ryan bursts into hysterics, and also shouts out “pee.”  It is a verbal tennis match between the two:

Cole: Pee

Ryan: Pee

Cole (louder): PEE!

Ryan (even louder): PEE!

(Pause, but not long enough for Mom’s ears to stop ringing)

Ryan (laughing):  We said pee pee.

Cole (louder): PEE PEE

Ryan (even louder): PEE PEE!!!!

Cole (pulling down his pants and his diaper, and yelling ever LOUDER):  PEE PEE!!!!!!!

Ryan (about to go pee pee in his pants because he is laughing so hard): You have a pee face.

Cole: You have a PEE face.

Ryan: You have a super PEE face.

Cole: You are pee pee head.

Ryan: (shrieking and laughing) Pee pee head! 

And it goes on and on. Just like Curly, Larry, and Moe poke, hit, and make dumb noises over and over.  You can’t fight it- it just is.  I don’t understand what is so funny about pee and pee pee, but evidently it is hilarious to boys- just like the Three Stooges are to men.  I don’t know why, but I understand that nothing I can do or don’t do will change this.  It is just a part of the boys growing up, and finding certain things funny. 

Ryan and Cole also have a new game.  They call it Stomach Bump.  I am sure grown men do this same game drunk, in -20 degree weather when their football team scores a touchdown.  Stomach Bump is played by both boys lifting or taking off their shirts.  Then the stick out their stomachs as far as they can- showing their milk guts.  Then they step back from each other, like they are getting ready to dual. They run as fast as they can into each other, bumping their stomachs together (hence the clever name of their game). 

I expect tears everytime they do this, but even though they are both knocked down, they laugh, and laugh, and laugh, and get up to go do it again.  The other night, they tried to add a twist- Bath Time Stomach Bump.  Ryan stood up in the tub on one end, and Cole on the other end.  The milk guts started coming out, and mom stopped that game, before it began.  That is why parents are advised to stay in the bathroom when the kids are in the tub.  Because boys just come up with these creative games.  

I have yet to see two girls playing Stomach Bump, or the other varieties the boys have come up with like Butt Bump, Elbow Bump, and Head Crash.  (you don’t even want to know.)  But as their mom, even though I don’t get it.  They do.  They are having a blast.  They are doing something that they both find outrageously funny.  They are playing with each other and bonding over Super Butt Bump.  Most importantly, they are becoming friends. 

I suspect one day Ryan and Cole will grow up and they will like The Three Stooges- probably love The Three Stooges, and have beer running down their faces as they watch.  Their girlfriends or wives will shake their heads, and wonder what could possibly be so funny, and won’t understand it.   But after wtaching my boys at this age,  I know exactly why they do- it will go back all the way to now- to pee and Stomach Bump.