One of my blogging friends got an award that looked like this…I <3 your blog. She wasn't sure what it meant until it was explained to her that <3 looks like a sideways heart. Therefore...I love your blog. This reminded me of the years when my boys went through the “not cool to be seen with your mom” years. We were best left hidden away along with all the other embarrassing things in the world.. Of course, we still were expected to carry out our motherly duties…but we must not draw attention to ourselves in any way. Now, my boys have always been very demonstrative, and had never minded hugging or kissing. As a matter of fact, at this time in their lives, they would still crawl up in my lap for some Mama Love. But, of course, none of their peers could know this…their ‘cool factor’ would plummet to new lows,,,and they would forever be tagged as a mama’s boy, or something even worse. So, we made up our own secret signals that no one else knew…so that we could send a hug to one another and no one would be the wiser. Crossing your index and middle finger (like for good luck)…meant a hug. Making a circle with the thumb and index finger, the flicking the index finger was a kiss flying through the air. If I needed to write them a note of send something to them, I always signed it 303. Can you figure out why? 303…look at it sideways…it spells MOM. And, this is how we maneuvered those yucky years when the boys were finding their independence from parents…learning to deal with peer pressure…and deciding if having a Mom was OK, or the biggest hindrance to their ranking among the cool group. I will have to say, this didn’t last very long. Soon, they were back to giving me a quick peck before getting out of the car. Occasionally, they still felt the need to revert to the our ‘private code.’ But, it all became a thing of the past when they decided they would make their own decisions as to what was ‘cool’ or not. I must say it was nice to be through with that. I think, that especially in raising young men, we need to be sensitive to these feelings, help them deal with them, and wait for them to outgrow it! And they will!
‘Cause every mom with male children knows that nothing warms your heart more than a big ‘ole bear hug from your sweet boy.

Thank-you, my sweet boys, for blessing me with your hugs!