Why Boys Need Parents
Boys need parents, not just for financial but also for emotional support. Parents can teach their sons important life lessons and help them become the best version of themselves. If boys have positive male role models in their lives, then they are more likely to become better men who contribute positively to society. As young boys grow up into adolescence and adulthood, they want someone who will listen and provide guidance and an example of what it means to be a man.
Boys Need Parents to Set Limits
Boys generally act before they think during early childhood. This is naturally hardwired into their brains. Boys are miniature living wrecking balls hell-bent on testing the physical limits of everything they see. And it’s perfectly normal for little boys to be known as ninjas of destruction; it’s one way they start to discover the world around them. What we have to do is make them understand that there have to be limited to their aggressive behaviors, as with everyone’s patience.
Boys Need Parents to Provide Discipline and Consequences when They Make Mistakes
After setting limits and rules, boys would also try to test those limits. They would try to see how far they could push things. You might see a bit of mischief in their eyes as they try to test your patience, but be calm about it. It is a chance to teach them about consequences, responsibility, and accountability. Be sure to be clear about the bad behavior that he has displayed and the punishment that it entails. Be firm but be gentle.
Boys Need Parents for Moral Guidance
Well, after seeing the ridiculous things boys do, you may have already determined which ones are harmless and which ones would promote undesirable habits. Boys need parents to show them the attitude and character they need to develop to be an outstanding men.
Boys Need Parents Who Will Always Be There for Them No Matter What Happens in Life.
Like all kids, boys need a warm and safe place to come home to. Whether the day went good or bad, through their own mistakes or provoked, unintentional or deliberate, kids need a home to come home to after they face the consequences. A place that would not judge him for his past but encourage him to learn from those mistakes to be a better person.
Boys Need Parents Who Can Teach Their Sons how To Love Themselves.
An unpopular opinion is that boys have this nagging sense of inferiority. It’s true, whether they admit it or not. Little boys often beat themselves up over things that they can’t control, things they want to change about themselves, and things they want to achieve. These feelings could have a negative or positive result, depending on the environment. If we, as parents, take the time to understand what they don’t like about themselves, we can guide them on which ones are “not that bad”, which ones we could work on and how to get rid of the bad habits.
How to Be a Good Parent to Boys?
Parenting has many stages and many styles, and just as the boy goes through the stages in his life, we learn to change and mix parenting styles to fit the boy’s needs.
Babyhood
Infant boys are totally the same as any infant. From zero to twelve months, the infant needs a lot of care and attention for optimal brain development. It gets easier as we get used to it when he turns a year old, but then everything changes. He starts to learn how to run and jump and climb and shout and be angry.
From one to two years old, our baby boy is starting to develop his social skills and cognitive skills. This is a critical stage where we can slowly mold the boy’s behavior in terms of socializing and how he views things and other people. It is best to start by showing him your values and the characteristics you want him to have at this early stage.
It is important to note that, most of the time, boys are on both sides of the extremes at this stage. For example, at bath time: one minute you struggle and chase and struggle some more to get him in the bath; the next minute, you struggle and splash to get him out of the bath. But be patient, understanding yet firm; show him that you are the boss as gently as you can.
Toddler
Around this time, around two to five years old, our boys are able and eager to explore and conquer everything and anything they set their eyes on. This is when we enforce our values and teach them respect and manners. It’s around this stage of child development where they understand the concept of ownership and develop jealousy and envy. It is time we started to introduce positive reinforcement, punishment, and consequences.
Middle childhood
This occurs between the ages of six and eleven, and much of what children do at this age is related to what they learn in the early grades of school. Now the world is a place of academic skills learning and testing, and you determine your value by comparing yourself with others. Students are compared in schools, and their results are made public via athletics, test scores, and other awards. It is at this point in life that children can refine their motor skills, and their growth rates slow down. Children also begin to acquire a greater understanding of social relationships outside of the family through interactions with friends and fellow students.
It is around this stage that we get into fights, quarrels, and get a crush. We, as parents, should change our parenting styles from what we were used to during the toddler years and adapt to handle the situation better.
Teenage years
For boys, during puberty, the body undergoes significant changes marked by an overall growth spurt and sexual maturation. In addition, the adolescent is developing complex intellectual skills as he begins to think about love, fear, and freedom. At this stage, we, as parents, should cover teaching about teen girls, body odor, body shape, basic skincare (this is important) and start showing them how to be a proper adults. It would also be a good time to slowly build their decision-making skills in the early years of adolescence to mitigate the bad outcomes we have to face. This is a very challenging time for both the parents and the teen. But remember that the boy is no longer a small child, and he would most likely need a friend to talk to more often than a boss to keep him in line.
Young adult
At this part of his life, he may have moved to college or started working, but remember that the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain in charge of decision making, will not be fully developed until you are about twenty-five years old. Just be ready to welcome them to a warm and loving home when they fail to understand the mysteries of life and give them a lecture full of life lessons over beer.
So, as we go through the boy’s daily life and the mess he left in his wake, just remember to be gentle, be patient, be loving, and have fun with your boys.
Charlee
I'm a Mom of two daughters, Freya and Ava. I love to share insights on how parents can be better parents. I write about topics that are relevant to me as a parent: things like parenting style, relationship, marriage, and balancing work and family.
