It is no secret I have a soft spot for boys. I’m a mother to two amazing creatures of the boy variety. I have always taken the charge of raising them into good men extremely seriously. When they were little, I would fixate on toddler and preschool behaviors and strongly believe I was completely failing them (and society). Honestly, boys under the age of 8 are often little monsters …at least mine were. So far we are doing OK, but the stakes get higher as they get older and that is sometimes overwhelming.
Over the last week New York magazine has featured a series How to Raise a Boy. I have been transfixed. Pouring over each article like a text book. Topics including aggression, emotions, baseball, sex, porn, sexual assault and consent. I was so inspired reading the series, I asked our local bookstore to get the paper edition of New York magazine. If you are mother of boys, put aside time to read and absorb. Truly, it’s that good. If you are mother to girls, I ask that you read a few of the articles. Boys often get a real bad rap but are dealing with situations that are foreign to us as women. No doubt the my boys and your girls are going to eventually interact and it is helpful to be empathetic to the challenges all children face in the modern age.
We all want the absolute best for our children. Being open to conversations that we may find uncomfortable might be the pathway to understanding their world. My hope is that we are still in this together.
PS// My life with boys is pretty darn amazing and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
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Tags: life with boys
