Having a son as a woman who has only really ever been around women can be a humbling, strange experience. I sometimes tell my husband that raising our 3.5-year-old boy feels like someone dropped me off on another planet where I don't know the language and have no map.

He makes me laugh like no other, but his whims and desires and interests sometimes do feel as foreign to me as another galaxy. Still, he has taught me a lot.

Yesterday, for instance, my son was wandering around the house in his underwear and his fire boots screaming about how he couldn't find the RED firetruck -- because the other 15 are apparently the wrong shade -- and I got it. I helped him look, solved the problem, and all of a sudden it dawned on me that this little man has taught me so much about the bigger man in my life (my husband) and even more about men in general. So here are 11 things my son has taught me about men:

  1. They were once oh-so-innocent and sweet: Sometimes when I get mad at my husband now, I sometimes look at our son and I have to stop. He was once as sweet and precious, even if he is soooo annoying now (at least at that moment, he is). For a woman who grew up with only a sister, sometimes it's surprising to me that my husband was once such a precious little bundle of curiosity and humor and innocence.
  2. My mother-in-law makes sense: I love my son fiercely and with a passion unlike any other. If some woman ever hurts him, she better beware. My mother-in-law's attitude used to be confusing to me (to put it mildly), but now I kind of get it. That mother-son stuff runs deep.
  3. That whole "I don't ask for directions" thing: My son REFUSES help for just about everything. It's all "Myself! Myself!" Sure, part of it is the age, but part of it is just a man thing. I get that now.
  4. They love their penis: My son would play with his all day if I would let him and almost all of my friends report the same level of adoration from their own sons. There is something about their nether regions. And, of course, I also know it will never stop.
  5. Farts are hilarious: My son now has my daughter as into farts as he is. Both of them can crack each other up for hours just farting and talking about farting and making fart noises and even drawing farts. My husband also thinks this is funny.
  6. They all ask for immediate assistance: If my daughter can't find something, she searches. But my son is immediately calling, "Mommy! Daddy! Where is my firetruck?" It's so much like my husband. He also will spend .01 seconds looking before calling out to me and asking where the butter, cheese, or coat is (as if I have some secret place and know where everything is). It used to drive me nuts, but my son has taught me it's a male thing. Still, that doesn't mean I won't break him of it. I definitely will, in fact. Isn't that what all moms say?
  7. Unless it's Home Depot, they hate shopping: My daughter is no shop-aholic herself, but my son hates everything to do with shopping (unless it's a tire store or a Home Depot). So that whole bored husband wandering around looking all Walking Dead at the mall thing? Totally innate male behavior. I get that now.
  8. They hate bathing: My husband showers every day (sometimes twice a day) on most work days, but on the weekends or on vacation? Forget it. Now I understand that. My son hates bath time and screams the whole time. I have to fight him and bribe him and cajole him to get clean. Now my husband makes more sense.
  9. They love so much: Nothing is sweeter for a mom than her baby boy. My daughter and I are equally close, but in a different way. My son treats me like a rock star and cuddles on me all the time. He tells me he loves me and how beautiful I am. I wish I could bottle that sweetness and save it for the teen years. And yet it also makes me see that sweet side in my husband. It's buried under adulthood and insecurities and all those things that happen in the teen years and 20s, but it's still there.
  10. They eat all the time: My son won't eat anything healthy, but if he could eat cookies all day, he would. If he likes something, he is a bottomless pit. My husband is the same. I make dinners for six, eat my portion, and then he eats the rest. Without fail.
  11. They forgive: My son will forgive his sister for hitting him in a New York minute. He forgets all those little things so much faster than my daughter who holds onto wrongs. My husband is a little slower to being fine (with my son it's like a switch), but he forgives more fully than I could ever do. It's a quality I wish I had.

More from The Stir:

4 Ways My Son Changed Me for the Better This Year

2-Year Old Boy Helps Mom Deliver Baby Brother

What have your sons taught you about men?