But since I’m in the mode of helping that son get his Webelos badge and Arrow of Light, and feeling a bit overwhelmed with scouts still (esp never having any exposure to it at all), I sorta just look at that scout picture alone and say WOW.

I agree with Stephanie. I’d love to talk to your mom and learn from her.

This really gets at what it is to be a brother among brothers.

Abe, I’m pretty certain it was Daniel who came up with Baden’s nickname. He has phrases for all of us, have you noticed?

Stephanie, I agree: our mother is a saint. And you’re also right about the chaos and violence; we weren’t nearly as bad as many other sets of brothers I have known, but that’s just the way the majority of boys and young men are, and neither we nor your boys will escape it. Good luck in dealing with it! My younger brother Philip and his wife Katie now five boys, without a single daughter in sight, and they’re saying the same things I hear you saying.

Good observations about the third son syndrome, though I suppose the same could apply to any child born following a tight-knit pair or group of others. Stuart’s strength and self-reliance is, I think, very much a product of him having been shut out by Daniel and I.

What you say about opportunities for exploration and physical labor is so true. No doubt there are other ways to handle these kinds of pressures, but for us, I can’t imagine what we would have done if we hadn’t had fields to ramble around in, trees to build tree houses in, and farm animals requiring our constant attention. Still, don’t under estimate the creativity of children. Our four daughters get a tremendous amount of the empty field right behind our house in our neighborhood, and the run-off creek across the road.

Good luck also handling a father who allows his work and priesthood responsibilities to keep him away for days at a time. I wish I could say my mother had some recipe for success, but she doesn’t; it was very, very difficult for her, and those years affected her health in more than a few adverse ways. She’s come through a loving person though; I hope that you’ll be able to do the same.

And I don’t know who came up with “BEEEEEEEEEE!!”…..(Daniel??)….. but it sure wasn’t anyone from the younger half.