Stryker with a Chapstick mustache and holding a banana sticker

I am currently reading a good book called Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys, by Stephen James and David Thomas.  It isn’t marketed as a Christian book, but one of the authors has served as a pastor, and they make references to God and Jesus.  I have found it to be helpful in reminding me that Stryker is just a normal boy, especially during his tantrums or when he climbs on the furniture day after day when told not to.  The book is divided into age sections.  According to the authors, Stryker is currently an “Explorer” (ages 2-4).  While I was reading it on our trip home from Minnesota, I was reading the ”Wanderer” section about boys ages 13-17 and dreading when Stryker is that age, as it described all the emotional ups and downs and testosterone surges of that phase.  Stryker chose that time to announce to me, “Mom, I like to be intense.”  I thought, ‘Oh no, not the Wanderer phase already! Or maybe it’s a reference to his tantrums?’  But as he continued to talk and mentioned tables and blankets, I realized he had said, “Mom, I like to be in tents.”