Boys will be boys!

What one doesn't think of, the other one will!

Christopher was not alone in his misery.  There were lots of other kids in the hospital with him who were suffering from their own brand of personal nightmare.  He was no longer on the baby/toddler floor.  There wasn't a hospital crib as far as the eye could see.  Instead, he had been admitted to the school age floor where there were kids anywhere from about 5 to 17 years of age.  It was a pretty wide range of ages, and the kids there were suffering from a pretty wide range of problems too...everything from cancer to car accidents.  It was A LOT of sadness in one place!


It was good to have other kids around who were going through similar circumstances for Christopher to talk to.  While he was in the video room one day, he met a boy who I will call David (not his real name).  David was probably 8 or 9 years old, and he had a friendly presence about him.  He was easy to talk to, and it didn't take long before both Christopher and David realized they had something in common...video games!


One thing about David was hard to miss.  His entire head was covered with a large white bandage.  He wasn't one bit shy about sharing why his head was all wrapped up.  Apparently, he had been involved in a horrible fire accident.  His head had been burnt in the flames.  His hair was gone, and the bandage was to protect his fragile head which was still healing.


The story behind the fire itself was very much a boy thing!  No female in her right mind would have ever conceived of this so called "great idea" much less have carried it out, but boys being boys not only thought up such a dangerous idea to amuse themselves but actually went through with the plan.  As the mother of three boys, I have learned that boys like to challenge each other...you know, who can jump the highest, run the fastest, spit the farthest.  Everything, I mean EVERYTHING, is a competition, so I have learned to keep a close eye out for such grandiose stunts and challenges.  Living with boys is like living on that television show Fear Factor.   The creator of that show surely had to be a man!


"Dangerous David" and his friends had a great idea, a super challenge, that would surely prove beyond a shadow of a doubt who was the bravest (or most gullible in my opinion).  It involved the garage, a rope, and GASOLINE!  It was a recipe for disaster to be sure, and that last ingredient sounded incredibly dangerous to me.  As I listened to David explain his "stunt gone wrong" to Christopher, I had to muzzle myself somewhat.  I wanted to say..."What were you thinking, why would you ever do such a thing, and were you out of your mind?"


The really cool, super stunt went something like this.  David and his friends threw a rope around the rafters of his father's garage.  They tied the rope, so they could swing on it in Tarzan fashion.  The first challenge was to see who could swing the highest, let go of the rope, and then land the farthest away.  The boys had chalk lines on the garage floor in order to document and compare their attempts.  This first challenge seemed pretty harmless, and apparently that was the problem.  There wasn't enough danger to claim glory, so they did the most obvious and natural thing.  They decided to "crank up" the danger a notch or two by adding, of all things (I know...it was hard for me to fathom too!), FIRE to the mix.  What a great idea!

Even Tarzan didn't swing over fire. Jane would have thought he was crazy!

Some matches and a little gasoline was all they needed to really make this thing interesting.  This surely would determine "who was the bravest."  David elected to go first and last as it turned out.  He jumped off the launching pad they had fashioned and flew through the air.  Everything would have turned out great, if only it wasn't for a little bad luck.  Much to the horror of his fellow daredevils the rope snapped, and David fell right into the flaming inferno on the garage floor.  It was a "stunt gone wrong," WAY  WRONG!"


As boys often do, David and his friends attributed the failure of this ingenious stunt to bad luck, that's all.  It wasn't that it was a bad idea, just bad luck.  Huh?!?  What is it with boys?  For some reason in their testosterone filled brains, it's never the plan that's bad.  They always seem to think that the problems that arise from the execution of these hair-brained schemes are simply the result of  bad planning or bad luck.  If they could just try it one more time, then just maybe...

Boys will be boys...even when they grow up!

I couldn't help but editorialize David's story as he told it to Christopher while reminding both of them of the consequences of this "so called" great stunt.  I certainly didn't want Christopher getting any big ideas that he might want to challenge his brothers with. However, let's just say that when we got home, I made sure that all the matches in the house and the lawn mower gasoline in the garage were under lock and key.  No sense taking any chances because boys will be boys!


If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can pray like this:

More tomorrow...