Saturday, January 24, 2009

7 Things Teenage Boys Most Need

Joey the Co-Pilot
Joey in the co-pilot seat


Legionary of Christ Father Michael Sliney suggests the following seven necessities for parents of adolescent boys:

1. Clear guidelines with reasonable consequences from a unified front; cutting slack but also holding boys accountable for their actions.

2. Reasonable explanations for the criteria, guidelines and decisions made by parents.

3. Avoiding hyper-analysis of boys' emotions and states of mind: avoiding "taking their temperature" too often.

4. Unconditional love with an emphasis on character and effort more than outcome: Encourage boys to live up to their potential while having reasonable expectations. To love them regardless of whether they make it into Harvard or become a star quarterback.

5. Authenticity, faith and fidelity should be reflected in parent's lifestyles.

6. Qualities of a dad: Manliness, temperance, making significant time for family, putting aside work, and being a reliable source of guidance.

7. Qualities of a mom: Emotional stability, selflessness, loving service and extreme patience.
read the rest here

3 comments:

Sarah - Kala said...

Thanks for posting this. I had read it somewhere before a few days ago and was mentioning this to my husband . . . our teen son is rubbing dad the wrong way a lot lately. Don't analyze; intead, love!

Molly said...

Great Post! Do you have anything specific to teen girls? My sisters drive my parents crazy. :)

EC Gefroh said...

Glad to be of help Sarah.

Rita, good question! I will have to look around.