Raising Boys
“They stole our story!” I told someone the first time I saw a trailer for Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur. The stunning shots of a human boy playing with a little dinosaur are firmly impossible in the standard evolutionary narrative—the dinosaurs supposedly died out eons before humans appeared on the scene, so theories of historical human…
It’s funny the things that throw you for a loop when you’re homeschooling. Teach four grade levels? No problem. Volunteer at the local food pantry with kids in tow? Got it. Lead a field trip with a dozen parents and a hundred children of all ages? No problem. “What grades are your kids in?” <runs…
This time of year, the housework goes into high gear - cooking, cleaning, and all that, getting ready for the holiday rush. If your home is like ours, the cry for "All hands on deck!" is deep, often, and heartfelt in November and December! When we were a boys-only family, though, a friend with daughters…
A reader asks, "I have a question I'd appreciate being posted anonymously, please. My 12-year-old son came to me with this: he would like permission to use some "stronger" words to use on certain occasions. He had some good friends who use words like "cr-p"and "dang", and he says he feels left out when all…
Video games are wildly popular among young men - the Pew Research Center found that 84% of teenage boys play video games on a computer, game console, or portable device, and one survey found that 60% of daily gamers spend an hour or more every day. Two-thirds of teenage gamers say they play games with "considerable…
It's one of those mysteries between the sexes - what makes our choices of entertainment so different? Wives and mothers shake their heads over boys' choices of movies, videos, books, and so on. To their thinking, so much of it is just stupid. And it's not simply childishness - dads and husbands are laughing too. Why is there…
Erin asked a great question on our Open Wall Friday post, "One of our sons (almost 6) is a "slow-ski". He is far from the youngest and always the last to put on his shoes, coat, come to the table, walk into the grocery store, keep up with the group, get out of the van…
A friend on Facebook said, "My 2-yr old son is driving me insane with his destructive behavior (mainly out of curiosity and inventiveness). He's very bright and physically and verbally advanced. But I'm losing my mind. Spanking doesn't seem to help since he repeats messing with everything and breaking things. ... I can not reason with…
"My son, who is 9, seems so sad all the time, keeps to himself, cries a lot, even when we try to do stuff he likes or stuff he asks. He can't seem to think of anything to do by himself, but gets upset when his brother bosses him around. So, he's bored, I'm at…
A mom asked, "How on earth do I manage my constantly wiggling six year old? This child won't sit still! Family devotions are so stressful - and don't even mention schoolwork or church. What can I do?" I am so with you here! Our youngest, a girl(!) has been one of those churning and burning…