Things Teenage Boys Need Most

13 Oct Things Teenage Boys Need Most

As a mom, it is not easy raising boys, never mind teenage boys. I never was a boy, don’t want to be a boy and don’t totally understand boys. They are so different than myself, my sisters and my girlfriends. Being a mom of teenage boys can be exasperating, overwhelming and exhausting.  I can remember many days I felt like I was making no headway and we were always butting heads. Grunts, groans and slam the door seemed to be a usual response at the age of 16 and in the final year of high school we seemed to have a lot of eye rolling, tension and mutual irritation.  I read once boys need to “cut their mother’s apron strings” during adolescence and so there’s a lot of push back when I’m trying my best “to connect”.  So many battlefronts appeared and I felt I had little victory on the fronts that mattered to me.   My husband became my sounding board and I had a lot to learn and a lot of major adjustments to make.

Never having had brothers, and having gone to an all girl private school, I was at a loss many times how to navigate these years. I talked to a lot of older moms for sanity savers and perspective. I read a lot of books about boys. I found the book entitled Strong Mothers, Strong Sons by Dr. Meg Meeker helpful for the transitioning phases and especially the teen years if you want to pick it up to glean some ideas.

However I often have moms of teenage boys reach out to me for some immediate constructive advice. Many times I recount some keys concepts that came from an article I read ages ago that helped me calm down, pull it together and steer things in a better direction.  So I include that article entitled 7 Things Teenage Boys Need Most for you to gain good perspective.  Give it a read. Its faith viewpoint might not match yours, but it does hit some key ideas we moms need to be reminded of for greater success. We are growing men-in-the-making. No small task. We need all the help we can get, including God’s. Moms have been doing it for centuries. We might not be doing it perfectly, but we will get through these crazy times. Our boys will grow up. No matter how long it takes, they will one day come to appreciate our efforts to raise them well. Hang in there and keep up your daily effort to smile and wave, like the penguins in Madagascar.   Our efforts will pay off, but we have to be patient in the meantime.