Shocking and horrifying...

Despite my hopes and, in some cases, my best efforts:

Both of my sons pick their noses. Almost compulsively, it seems to me.

Brace yourself for this--one of them regularly eats what he finds in his nose. I can't make him stop.

Table manners are still a bit beyond my boys. Sometimes their bellies are on the table before I can make them get down! One of my boys tries to lick his spills off the table. With his tongue!

Their hair is rarely combed. I don't put in enough effort here. We don't even have any hair gel in the house!

They both need their nails clipped. LONG jagged nails. I try. But they refuse. And it's often not worth the fight.

My older son, who washes his face himself, almost always has some sort of mess on it that he hasn't washed thoroughly enough to remove. Jam! Refried beans! Even dried snot!

They both usually choose their own clothes now, even for church. Sometimes this means the red tie with the orange plaid shirt! With blue pants, black socks, and brown shoes!

They don't eat their veggies and are sometimes downright rude about the food I fix for them. They drop their dirty clothes on the floor and have to be reminded to put them in the hamper. They complain about cleaning up their toys. They even use THAT tone of voice with me. And I have to remind them to talk nicely to their parents. I'm serious.

They wiggle and snort and are otherwise irreverent during prayers!

And. Get this. One of them nearly always has a hand in his pants! Sometimes both hands. He's playing with his you-know-what!

Aren't you shocked and horrified? NO?
No, you aren't. Well ok, only a little. Because here's the thing:

I try. I teach. I remind. I help. But at the end of the day,

THEY'RE LITTLE BOYS.

I won't lie and say "I wouldn't change a thing" because really, I wouldn't mind if some hands and faces were cleaner and some nails were shorter. I wouldn't mind if they would actually eat green things. But what is a mom really gonna do?

Don't ask me how I know this next part, but if a mom spent all her time worrying about all this horrifying stuff, she'd probably completely overlook how fun, cute, and good they are. Dried snot and all.