Helping Your Son To Be Himself
Boys can suffer a lot from self esteem issues as they grow, and quite a lot of the time, these worries and fears are swept under the rug. Men’s mental health can be an oft ignored issue, but increasingly, parents (and teachers) are turning their attention toward boys’ mental health. One way you can help: […]
The Return of Youth Sports
I bought coffee from a concession stand this weekend. And drank it while sitting in the bleachers. It was my first coffee-in-the-bleachers in more than a year-and-a-half. The pandemic sucked (still sucks!), but here I am, writing about concession stand coffee, because after more than a year of lock downs and social distancing, once-common “annoyances” […]
Your Son’s Health Must Always Come First
Your son’s health is a priority. When he’s young, it’s up to you to take all the necessary safety precautions, and you can control his food intake and exercise so his health is in the best possible condition. As he gets older, you step back and teach your son how to take care of his […]
Building Boys & Learning During a Pandemic
Learning during a pandemic is challenging. Hell — LIVING during a pandemic is challenging. But you already know that. The chaos, confusion and sense of overwhelm are likely intimately familiar to you now. What you want — need –– are answers. Answers that will help you figure out how to keep your boys learning during a […]
ON BOYS: August 2020
We covered a lot of ground on ON BOYS parenting podcast in August: Back-to-school (pandemic-style!) How (& why) to start a boys’ book club Encouraging boys’ interests, no matter what they are Raising boys who become good men If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to ON BOYS so you don’t miss an episode! […]
What About School?
What about school? is the question on everyone’s minds right now. It’s on the minds of school district administrators, teachers, parents, legislators, school staff…everyone, really. There is an upside to this near-universal questioning. For the first time in the 20 years I’ve been raising kids (including the 10 years I’ve been covering education as a […]
Raising Boys to Be Good Men: Book Review
I have spent two decades working on raising boys to be good men. Have I succeeded? Early signs look good — my 22 year old is living, working and studying independently in another state; my 19 year old recently cooked me a birthday dinner; and all 4 of my boys prioritize time with extended family […]
Reading Raising Cain
My oldest son wasn’t yet two when Raising Cain:Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys was published in 1999. At the time, I was so immersed in the process of parenting that I didn’t have any time to read and reflect on the experience. And, my son was young enough that I hadn’t yet needed to […]
How Parenting Teenage Boys Prepared Me for a Pandemic
None of us expected this pandemic, save maybe a few epidemiologists and public health experts who “expected” it in the same way we all “expect” to die, which is to say that we know it will happen, but we have no idea when or how or what it will feel like. Three months or so […]
Overwhelmed by Homeschooling? I Was Too.
You are not the only one who is overwhelmed by homeschooling. I wrote these words on January 24, 2005, shortly after we pulled our oldest son, Nathan, out of first grade at semester: I’m a state of shock. It’s our first day homeschooling, and I have no rhythm, no flow, no sense of managing my […]