No momma's boys!

aahhh!??? Are you going to go cry to mommy??? LOL. Yep, that's what the kids say to the boys that don't stick up for themselves and go cry off somewhere. Were you that boy? Are you raising that boy? Hopefully not. If so, hopefully by reading this you'll start raising tough boys. Seriously, you're boy can take it. Don't baby him. Recently I was incharge of boys at an overnight field trip at a camp. I was warned about one of the boys. "He will not last all night", is what I was told all night by several adults that knew him. Me being the optimist knew this was the thing I can handle. This boy obvisously had been cuddled by his parents. My first impression of him included him crying that he didn't get a top bunk, since the other boys already picked the spots that they were going to sleep. SERIOUSLY!?!? I immediately pulled the boy outside and told sternly told him to "man up". "No crying." "You don't get to cry for not getting a top bunk." Now this boy had grown up getting his way by crying and throwing a fit. I'm not the one to give in. After my conversation he calmed down.

What did I do? I stood my ground. That's it. You don't raise your boys to cry for their way. You raise them to be a man. Long story short this boy was given no chance. Apparently his parents didn't even think he would make it all night. Honestly I believe about 7 or 8 adults warned me and told me there is no way he would make it through the night. Well guess what? He made it. Sure I had to tell him to quiet down. Sure I told him to stop crying. But, I didn't give up on him. And in the morning, I told him I was proud of him making it through. I talked to him about being a man. That is what he needed. No momma's boys! Be a man!

Don't rush to pick them up!

Have you ever witnessed a boy falling and the mom running to pick them up? Chances are the boy was crying, however only after the boy saw the look on the mom's face. Don't rush to pick him up! That boy is going to take more falls. He will survive. Let him sit there for a minute.

Here's my two cents... when you rush to pick up the boy, he doesn't learn to get over his pain on his own. Instead he associates pain followed by being coddled. What is this going to do when the boy is not surrounded by his mom or dad? I'll tell you what will happen... the boy will fall, he will look for someone to come pick him and and he will cry like a little baby. Then the adults and other children that are around are going to look at him and think "what a wuss". I'm just saying... You know some of you have thought this... I'm just saying it.

Disclaimer... Now obvisouly if the boy has a severe injury you do want to pick him up and get help or medical attention. Do your boy a favor... don't run to pick him up. Instead tell him "Well that hurt didn't it?" , "Yeah, son sometimes you fall, it stings for a bit, now get up and be a man." LOL. OK, I'm not totally like that. You do need compassion. Boys do need hugs. However, that's my next subject.