Boys to Men

My recent thought has been this:

How do I raise good boys who turn into good men?

I've been thinking; as any good mother, I want to raise "good boys who turn out to be good men." Men who are worthy, honest, and respectful.

A man who is a MAN, who can stand up for himself, and yet protect the weak.

A man who will honor and cherish his wife, her thoughts and feelings, but be able to lead the family as the family's patriarch.

I don't understand boys really, but I've got TWO.

So, how in the heck do I raise two boys who will be all of the above?

Well, I might not get so lucky, but I have to at least try.

I decided to look around me and scope out a few men I thought were "good."

I then asked their mothers what they did that helped these men become the people they are now.

One mother thought for a moment, and replied;

"language."

Language?!

"Yes," she replied.

"We were really careful and STRICT to not allow our kids to say words like 'hate,' 'dumb' and 'stupid'."

Sounds kind of normal and perhaps even a bit insignificant..?

I don't know too many mothers who allow their toddlers and children to talk with that sort of vocabulary, but I listened on.

"Well, it turned out without us planning it to happen, that when our children weren't allowed to say these things, they acted differently than their friends who were allowed to say them."

Hmm, interesting, but it makes sense. You are what you say.

Whatever it was, I'd have to say, IT WORKED. Her sons are righteous, god-fearing men who love and cherishes their wives.

Another thing I've been thinking of is to make a list of attributes I want my boys to have as men. Then I'll look at that list and think of a way to backtrack...meaning, treat Kai and Jaiden as if they were ALREADY those men. If I want my boys to be strong and not be a "mama's boy," for example, perhaps I need to back off a little and let them cry and lick their own wounds. I don't know, I'm just thinking (this is hard stuff). Well, in a nut shell, motherhood has got me thinking in ways I never thought I would and can I just say, that it's HARD WORK?!

I admire mothers who have fought a good fight and have stuck it through to raise their children to be good people who contribute to the world, even if that only means that he doesn't have a sword for a tongue and can watch how he acts and what he says.