Boymom

From babies to little boys to teenagers to young men, raising boys requires your whole heart and soul. Read through these articles tailored just for the boymoms and find hope and encouragement.

2 Reasons Why Tag Team Parenting Is the Way to Go

2 Reasons Why Tag Team Parenting Is the Way to Go

Parenting, like marriage, starts out all theory. Which is why new parents, like new husbands and wives, can seem teachable. We read books, we seek advice, we ask questions. And then reality hits. I will be the first to admit that, as a new mom, I was not all that teachable in real life. It took me years, four sons, and countless small mothering disasters to realize how much help I really needed. Functional parenting is very different from the figurative version. The good thing about this seeming-humble to actual-humble journey is that I often had to do what I’ve observed healthy parents do: apologize to my kids when I blew it, while somehow managing to retain my role as The Mom. […]

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How-to-Reach-Your-Preteen-When-They're-Pushing-You-Away

How to Reach Your Preteen When They’re Pushing You Away

No matter where you’re at on the journey of parenting your preteen, we can all agree that it is hard. From navigating a new school to dealing with attitudes that have left me perplexed, the preteen years have offered many unexpected twists and turns. However, now that my ten-year-old is almost through his fifth-grade year, I have realized that even though there have been many changes, some of the ways I parent him have stayed the same. I’m learning that our kids will test their boundaries, but there are ways to stay connected to them even when they seem so far away… 1. Ask your preteen where they sit. Ever since elementary school, I got into the habit of casually asking my son

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This Grit and Grace Life Podcast

When Is Your Teen out of Control and What Do You Do? With Dr. Zoe Shaw – 032

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | MoreAre you afraid your teen may be out of control? Or, is their behavior typical teenage boundary-pushing? When do you know that enough is enough and things have to change? These questions often consume the mind of a mom with a pre-teen or teenager. To determine when to draw a line, Darlene and Julie brought back our trusted friend and Licensed Therapist, Dr. Zoe Shaw. This family therapist of 16 years discusses when you need to give your teen room to make mistakes to learn from them, or how to recognize that the time has come to step in and intervene. If you have a

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You-Are-the-Biggest-Influence-on-Your-Child’s-Faith

You Are the Biggest Influence on Your Child’s Faith

Having a newborn in your home is a marvelous thing. To look into that tiny face and realize that you have been given this gift is nearly overwhelming. Just a few short months ago this person wasn’t on the planet, and now he is in your arms. The weight of the responsibility far exceeds the little bit of effort it takes to lift him from his crib. Everything about him is life, newness, and precious. For parents who choose to raise their children to follow the teachings of their faith, it is no small undertaking. Our society is often referred to as “postmodern,” meaning, in an extremely simplified definition, that much of our world has stepped away from formerly traditional values of

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How Boys Show Love

How Boys Show Love

Have you ever wondered if your boy loves you? They do, despite what meets the eye. Boys simply express love in their own, unique way… With a plastic snake, that’s how a boy loves. He wraps it around the milk jug in the refrigerator. Or puts it under your pillow so you’ll find it in your most unwary, weary moment. A boy’s affection is kinetic and sneaky like that. When a 300-pound homeless man slugs you in the face in broad daylight, on a sidewalk in Manhattan, while you’re working there. And that night your 6-year-old calls you at your hotel to ask if you got a good look at the man. And you say yes, he says: good, I’m coming up

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The Wedding Sway, Your Son's Wedding Day

An Unexpected, Wonderful Moment on Your Son’s Wedding Day

I am watching my son dance his first dance with his wife. Foreheads touching, lips moving in a conversation no one else can hear, arms looped around the other’s neck, leaning together in a careless box step. Why do we make a spectacle of something so sacred? I look away. And then I notice the black and white row of our three other sons behind them. Their arms are draped behind each other’s backs and they are swaying to the music. Swaying. Together. Like a mother who never forgets how to move back and forth when a child needs soothing, I sway in time with them from the other side of the dance floor. I am struck by how substantial this image

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Your Teenage Boy Will Break Your Heart, and You’ll Be Better for It

Your Teenage Boy Will Break Your Heart, and You’ll Be Better for It

What is it about teenage boys? I’ve been in love with them since I was about twelve. They are, in general, insensitive, inarticulate, clunky, and smelly (even when they discover deodorant and cologne, because they don’t discover moderation until later). But they are all those things with a seemingly endless supply of charm. I’m in love with them. Good thing, since we raised four. And, at one time or another, all of them broke my heart. I mended, though. A Mama’s Boy Let’s be honest; most moms secretly want a mama’s boy. A boy who will engage us, prefer us, unburden his very soul to us. All things teenage boys hardly ever do, in part because they don’t know how and in

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How to Handle Little Boys Who Think They Know It All

How to Handle Little Boys Who Think They Know It All

Little boys are know-it-alls. At first I loved that about them. Tell a little boy he is handsome or strong or smart and, likely, he’ll say, “I know.” And when he stands with his buddies on the doorstep of his prom date’s house, they will say something like, “All the girls want me,” while the girls are inside saying, “I wish my hair looked like yours,” to each other or, sadly, “I look fat in this dress.” And then you realize that knowing it all, for a boy, hides insecurities and doubt. But a boy’s know-it-allness isn’t always so transparent or endearing. It can wear you down, commencing as it does on the heels of the “why?” stage (that one doesn’t last

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Are You Believing These 7 Lies About Your Son?

Are You Believing These 7 Lies About Your Son?

The origin of this post is a mystery. Does this list come from my observation of our granddaughters and my recent speculation about what my life might have been like had I had a girl, just one? (FYI: I never really wanted a daughter, but these precious girls make me wonder why not.) Or does it spring from my wonderment these days at how utterly different my husband—classic boy—is from me? We’ve been married 35 years, and I am discovering that the divide between us is wider than I ever dreamed it was. The divide, that is, between how we think and feel and process the world around us. The divide that has been there all along, covered in fog like Cloudland

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Lessons From Kids About Failure

4 Lessons on Failure I Learned from My Kids

I’ve learned that failure can be a time-release sort of blessing. We bide our time through the pang of it until it does what we know it can eventually do if we let God use it: transform everything. When my husband Bill lost his job, it hurt a lot. It felt like a failure. This came at the end of the last recession, after quite a few good friends lost their high-level, high-paying jobs and had to live on their savings. Bill’s job was neither high-level nor high-paying (which means we had next to nothing saved), but it was what he loved, and thus it was a blow. Today we both affirm that his job loss was the best thing that could

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