Boys, Beef and Tomatoes

You know how every now and again  you set about making your world famous chili , lasagna  or spag-bol, but no matter how many times you make it and regardless of whether you used exactly the same ingredients as last time, it always comes out just a little bit different every single time? What is that all about? I know I did it the same last time! Didn’t I?

The really wonderful thing about this is even though it’s different each time everyone still really likes it! Phew! Thank goodness for that they're my best recipes.

I have three boy’s same mum same me so why is it despite all you learn about life and family it is still a source of gob smacking amazement just how different 3 boys with the same parents and upbringing can be from each other? Can’t be all that different can they? Oh yes they can!

Apart from differences in age the boys are as different as my three best mince and tin tomato based dishes.

I wonder if I can sell them?

L.. is 13; he is a very serious guy but a real talker. Older in his attitudes than a Tory initiative he asks serious questions like the one from the last posting. He works really hard, he has a paper round at weekends  helps in a shop once a week, and sweeps a car park twice a week. He gave the newsagent his number and covers any absence on week day rounds getting up very early to do it. And he’s a bit of an entrepreneur. He washes your car for a fee and recently decided there was money in dog walking so advertised his services on the local Gumtree (to be fair an idea he nicked from a cousin, but still!),Very enterprising and very lucrative too! He loves people, plays soccer for an u14’s team (he’s a lefty so nearly always plays). He cycles miles at a time, and thinks nothing of cycling 8-10 miles. Regularly doing just that to visit a cousin who has never done the same. He is,to coin a phrase 'as fit as a butchers dog'. He’s the fulcrum of teenage events. Everyone knows him and it seems likes him. He's "one of the guys". He is good at school. Not Einstein but consistent and at a good level in most subjects and in one or two very good indeed. Despite all this though he does lack just a little in self confidence at times. For the sake of the world and Richard Branson maybe not such a bad thing.

Drawn age 8

S.... is 9; he is quiet intense and can concentrate better than a juice extraction factory. I've not met a child that can focus so intently for so long. His passion is insects but his interests include all of nature and anything that fly’s. Writing about all these and drawing them as well in extraordinary detail sometimes. He reads voraciously and is in love with knowledg, (at the moment it’s White Fang by Jack London). His questions invariably have me scuttling to Google to maintain the guise of the all knowing Dad! He has taught

me so much about so many things, I can remember at the age of 3 he could identify and name 50+ dinosaurs from a book originally bought for his older brother and pronounce them correctly as well. He sends me messages about his latest finds and emails his drawings of spiders and is now, he informs me with significant conviction, writing the definitive book on insects living in his neighbourhood! I have no idea where he gets it from. He is a gentle boy full of love and never afraid to show i. He takes enormous care over everything biting the end of his tongue as he works away on his latest passion but is very content in his own company. He loves cooking with me and is remarkably adventurous with his food. Genuinely keen to try everything even wanting to try deep fried grasshoppers last summer. I drew the line at that as he couldn't catch enough for everyone to have some, Thank goodness.

See those tree's Dad?
I can climb them. I can!

C.... well he’s 8; he is "THE HUMAN DYNAMOHHH!" This boy would leave Chuck Norris begging for mercy if he was his sitter. He is a Boy with a capital B every time. This child wastes no time.  If something’s in the way go through it, it takes too long to go round. His life is about experience. He does everything physical with full out gusto. When he runs its as fast as he can every time. If he’s jumping its higher every time. If he’s climbing (Oh boy! and he does climb!), it’s further than anyone ever! Everything about his life is Fun and he has the most incredible imagination. This of course means he tells the most outstanding stories about his adventures. They're based in truth but somehow the hill down the lane from the house becomes a mountain and the pond becomes a lake. Cats are always as big as tigers and the time he saw a fox it turned into Sirius Blacks animagus but bigger. And  SPIDERS! Ha! He winds his brother up all the time saying he’s found a bigger spider than him! The scale of his world is breathtaking, I adore it. I get raised eyebrows from some for letting him explore the world at his age,(I've been letting him for a while) but to be honest the world he inhabits is his and he is King of it so off you go my liege. He's the leader of the gang and has a knack for drawing other quieter children out of themselves. Having made one wee man near here a very different boy by befriending him, much to his mum's delight. He knocks at the door every weekend asking for him even though he knows it’s every other it is very cute.

OK so let’s admit this, C....s' lust for life is a problem to some. It has gotten him on the wrong side of school teachers, and academically he is by the standard measures at least, “behind”. They tell me he suffers from A.D.H.D. I tell them he doesn't suffer at all. He loves life and some of us could learn a lot from him if we just took time to accommodate instead of try to change him. I get told off for that a lot. So I say fine he Approaches Days with Healthy Disrespect! I'm not trying to diminish this I just love how he embraces freedom and life and wish I was more like him. Come to think of it I wish EVERYONE was just a bit more like him! 

My three best "dishes" feed my soul, my mind, my dreams, my hopes, my life and I never feel empty when they're around, I would like that to be more often and as I improve so do the chances. Here's hoping!
Gotta Love ‘em!

©Agides