Manly Decisions
Let’s talk about the men in a baby’s life. Clearly all three babies in this photo are totally interested in the two men. They want to touch them, engage eye to eye and crawl all over them. Too many of our children are not lucky enough to capture a man’s attention. Some of us well-meaning moms prevent our children from being with the men who belong to them. Others of us treat our sons very differently than our daughters. Out of fear that our sons will grow up badly some of us tell our sons, “Don’t say anything. Stand right here next to me and do exactly what I say.” Out of love and fear we prevent our sons from developing a large vocabulary by telling them to be quiet; and prevent our sons from becoming good decision makers by not allowing them to make decisions.
So that our sons will grow up to become responsible and loving fathers, we need to teach them with kind words how to make decisions. Help our boys make choices, ask, “Do you want to play with the blocks or a ball?” “Do you want strawberry or chocolate ice cream?” ”Do you want to stay inside and play with a toy truck or go outside and swing?” Little words become big words, small decisions lead to better choices later on.
