Raising Strong Sons

For many parents, raising a son can be a daunting job. A son is usually a busy, loud and sometimes wild individual. At a loss for what to do, a parent may make the mistake of trying to turn their sons into a quiet, docile child, more like a girl than the leader God intended for them to eventually be. As a mother of six sons, from two grown already, two in their teens, and two under the age of five, I have learned a few things I can pass on.

All parents of sons know that a boy does not want to sit still. The best thing to do is give in to this and channel it. Try and live somewhere that gives your son lots of room to explore and move. If that is not possible, then create a place in your back yard that will fill your young boy's life with imagination. Consider building a tree house, sand boxes, forts, small bicycle ramps. Tricycles, Big Wheels and the old fashioned little red wagon are still very much loved toys. These things do not have to be expensive, a handy father or grandfather can handle this. There are many books on the market with plans, if needed. Give him real tools instead of the toy ones, and teach him how to use them under your supervision. A hammer, nails and some blocks of scrap wood will keep him busy for hours. He won't even mind the smashed fingers too much in the joy of 'building' his own creation. In fact, the blue fingernails will just be a visible sign that he is a 'man'.

Give your young son imaginative toys to play with inside, too. Forget the Xbox or Wii, which will make him feel antsy instead of good and tired. Give him Lincoln logs, legos, Knex, and plan old blocks. My second son played for hours and hours with nothing more than a bean bag chair and a package of cheap plastic army men. Using the flexible bean bag chair, he created mountains, caves and everything he needed to have a war.

If you allow your son to burn off steam this way, it will not be so hard for him to learn to be still and quiet when he needs to be, in church or in school. If you decide to homeschool him, that will be even better yet, as you can make allowance for his need to be active regularly, instead of expecting him to sit still and behave for as long as seven hours a day.

As your son grows and reaches puberty, you may wonder where your sweet boy went. The young manly looking thing standing in front of you in the place of the small boy suddenly seems to want to challenge everything you say and do. Remember, God created men to be leaders. As your little boy grows into your man, he becomes a young 'rooster' who wants to rule the house. Understanding this will help you immensely as you work with him. Begin to loosen the reins a bit, and let your son start to do the things a man does. Sometimes, something like giving him charge of the yard will help channel those feelings. Let him build real things, like dog houses or bird houses or anything else his imagination runs too. Let him take some lessons, like guitar, karate, or sports. A part time job with a friendly neighbor is a good outlet. Let him begin to do things for you, like carry heavy objects, change tires or other things. It may be a bit scary, but it will be good for your son.

Soon your son will be grown and ready to leave your nest. It will be hard to watch him go, but if you have followed these hints and trained him right, you can let go with confidence and joy. You will know that he has been well prepared to be a strong, good man.