7 rules for mums with sons
Having sons can be hectic! They can be boisterous and loud, messy and sticky and generally leave a trail of small destruction wherever they go! However, nothing compares to those days of his youth that you’ll look back on with sweet nostalgia. Seeing him grow from a baby boy to a little young man under your guidance and watching him learn through the world he bounces through is very special, and although you wish sometimes he wouldn’t grow up so fast, he will always look back at his mother as the first woman who loved him, guided him and taught him about life.
A mothers love and guidance is unparalleled, so we have compiled 7 tips for mums with sons, things to teach him and guide him along the way to help him grow to be the best version of himself he can be.
1. Teach him to express how he feels: Boys can tend to be a little more closeted when it comes to their feelings than girls. Make sure you little boy knows it’s okay to fully express how he feels. When he’s worried or wondering about something create an environment where your son will know that all questions, words and feelings are welcome.
2. Be his No.1 Fan: As much as he might be embarrassed, acting as your sons number one fan and supporter is a memory that will never leave him and will instil confidence in him for future challenges. He will be able to reflect on this and know he always has a support system in you forever no matter what he does.
3. Let him lose: Losing is a part of life. Allowing your son to learn how to lose will prepare him to cope with future losses. Boys can be competitive and can see losing as a failure due to peer pressure and influences from fellow friends. Teach him that losing is needed in order to learn, and show him that it only makes you grow.
4. Teach him to be gentle: Teaching your son of the times when he needs to be gentle; when playing with babies, when petting animals and with other’s feelings, is an integral message to your little boy, one that will stay with him for life and instil in him respect and care for things that need to be treated as such.
5. Surround him with strong female influences: Surrounding your son with central female influences in his life will allow him to learn about women and to respect and love them in his life in the future. Growing up, we are all succumbed to media influences and suggestions, and unfortunately more often than not, representations of women generated by the media are just not real and are too often pressed on young boy’s minds. Surrounding him with female family members or friends will show an example to him of strong, important women doing strong, important things.Teaching him that women are beautiful because of their brains, their strength, their initiative and their ability to love will instil in him a true meaning of beauty. Be that example for him.
6. Provide him with strong male influences: As a boy, there are things he will want to be taught from a male. It is important that as well as learning about women and respecting them, it is also important he has a male influence to look up to as a man. Be it his father, a family member, friend or neighbour, provide him with someone who he can look up to, go to if he needs advice, learn with an open mind from and envision as a good example for the man he will grow up to be.
7. Enter his world: All of the above tips focus on getting your son to come to terms with his feelings, learn to express himself and treat people with respect. As much as these are important factors, we can’t forget to be an active participant in his rules. Get involved and let him teach you about his world as much as you are trying to teach him about the world outside. Play football with him, let your clothes get dirty, build forts, dance, paint or do anything he loves to do. Answer every ‘why?’ question, nurture his imagination and cherish every moment, because as his mother, you are not just his first guidance, you are also his first friend.
maternity & infant
Originally posted 2015-04-20 14:13:57.