If you’re a parent of one or more boys, you’ve discovered that boys take an odd delight in breaking out of standard conventions and doing things that seem a bit - well, primitive.

Like peeing in the woods.

Even if there’s a perfectly suitable bathroom 125 feet away, most boys will be more than happy to drop their drawers when and where the urge hits them, and go “au naturel” before any and all watching flora, fauna, and bemused (or horrified) parents.

If that’s your kid, then be relieved as he relieves himself. He’s normal.

Boys, you see, have an innate need to not be confined. While everyone knows that all males eventually need some degree of domestication, all boys/young men/men also need to periodically toss aside certain conventions and let it all hang out, so to speak. While it might not be best to encourage such behavior in the middle of a crowded mall, a quick pee in the woods never hurt anyone.

Boys need rules, of course. But they also need room. Room to hit things with sticks, room to wrestle for no reason, room to explore and conquer, room to escape the careful order of domesticity and go make a mess somewhere. Boys need to jump off branches, scrape their knees, chop wood with an ax, and occasionally, pee in the woods. Channel the energy and drive as best you can, but don’t stifle it or try to alter the wiring. Confident men who can lead are simply grown boys who pushed the limits and were allowed to “prove” themselves.

There’ll be plenty enough confinement and “domestication” later, when work and family responsibilities descend. Tame what you can while they’re little, but give plenty of leash also. Enough to reach behind that tree in the woods, where your little boy (and sometimes even your grown man!) delights to pee on occasion…