Before the Boys

Before my boys…

  • I’d never watched an entire Star Wars movie
  • I couldn’t pronounce the names of most dinosaurs, much less identify them
  • I’d never wielded a power tool
  • I had no idea that the 1927 Yankees were the best baseball team ever
  • I’d never participated in a lightsaber duel
  • I didn’t know what a blog was
  • I’d never read a book about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig or Mickey Mantle
  • I never fully realized how dirty white socks can get
  • I’d never seen a case of poison ivy, first-hand
  • I knew nothing about the brain-based differences between males and females
  • I didn’t own any legos
  • I’d never published a single article
  • I didn’t know that “buddy” was slang for “cup
  • I didn’t spend nearly enough time in the woods

How ’bout you? Help me add to my list!

The Building Boys Bulletin

The Building Boys Bulletin Newsletter gives you the facts, encouragement, and inspiration you need to help boys thrive. Written by Jennifer L.W. Fink, mom of four sons and author of Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World That Misunderstands Males, Building Boys Bulletin includes:

The Building Boys Bulletin is funded by direct subscriptions from readers like you. If you’d like the full experience, please consider becoming a paying subscriber.

“I learned a lot about helping boys thrive over the past 20+ years — most of it the hard way! I’m eager to share what I’ve learned to make your path a little easier.”   – Jennifer

You May Also Enjoy

10 Responses

  1. I can’t speak to the boys issue, but I can speak to have two daughters…never did I realize how quickly scrunchies (mountains of scrunchies!), Lip Smackers in every flavor imaginable, glitter pens and Hello Kitty nail polishes could add up! ~Meredith

  2. Before I had a son:
    * I never rode on the back of a motorcycle.
    * I never watched Deadliest Warrior.
    * I didn’t know what a grand slam was.

    Jennifer, that was fun!

  3. I always wondered why there was pee at the back of the seat in the ladies room, trying to imagine how in the heck some woman did that…..NOW, with 3 boys, I know exactly how it got there!

  4. Well, I did some of those things before my boy came along (if you knew how many times I’d seen the original Star Wars trilogy BEFORE I had a boy, you’d wonder how I ever even had time to have kids 😉

    But to add to you list, I have:
    I never planned a vacation around a WWII battle site.

    For that matter, I never knew 1/4 about WWII that I do now (and still nowhere near what my son knows).

    I never thought that parents and teens could get along so well.

    I didn’t that chickens were so much fun to raise (or that a boy could bond so closely with them).

    I had no idea that we would be a homeschool family, or that we would love it so much!

  5. Before boys:

    *I didn’t know the difference between a backhoe and an excavator.

    *I had never spent hours (and hours) sitting and watching said backhoes and excavators at work.

  6. I love these! Like Firefly Mom, I now know way more about American history than I ever learned in school — and it was so much more fun learning it with my boys.

    @Kris — What IS the difference b/t an excavator and a backhoe? I grew up around heavy equipment b/c my Dad was an excavator (the person kind, not the maching kind), so I know my machines. But the kid books seem to have conflicting definitions for excavator and backhoe. Mine: backhoe — any big digging maching with claw-type bucket. The ones with a loader in the front and backhoe in the back I call backhoe endloaders.

  7. That I would have to childproof upper cabinets, especially the spice cabinet.

    That the garbage truck is the most amazing machine in the world, at least according to my 6yr old. Trash day is practically a holiday here.

    Love that industrial hinges comment, that is totally true here too 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World That Misunderstands Males

Building Boys

You can purchase the newest book from Building Boys at the following websites: