And the baby makes 5

I have been interested in the issues surrounding the current status of boys in our society. Many authors have written about the unique struggle boys face in our school systems particularly. Recently, I began reading a book titled, "Wild At Heart", written by John Eldredge. Here are some excerpts from one of the chapters in his book.

"The idea, widely held in our culture, is that the aggressive nature of boys is inherently bad, and we have to make them into something more like girls. The primary tool for doing this is our public school system. The average school teacher faces an incredible challenge: to bring order to a room of boys and girls, and promote learning. The main obstacle to that noble goal is getting the boys to sit still, keep quiet, and pay attention...for an entire day. You might as well hold back the tide. That is not the way a boy is wired, and it's not the way a boy learns."

Edlredge's book is not about the school system or about the specific issue of educating boys, but rather the very nature of boys and how that relates to life in all arenas. This is just a particular section of the book that speaks to me as I contemplate raising a boy and how to do that successfully. Whether one pays attention or not, boys are different than girls...and for a good reason. I want to make sure I help nurture those differences.

Eldredge quotes a different author that makes a great point as well. Author Lionel Tiger writes in his book, "The Decline of Males", "at least three to four times as many boys than girls are essentially defined as ill because their preferred patterns of play don't fit easily into the structure of the school. Well-meaning psycho-managers then prescribe tranquilizing drugs for ADD such as Ritalin...The use of drugs so disproportionately among boys betrays the failure of school authorities to understand sex differences...The only disease these boys may have is being male."

The book describes several ways our culture hinders the proper development of boys and messes up their masculinity along the way. This issue is very real and I want to make sure that my son does not get caught up in our culture that points him in the wrong direction. I don't want to walk through my mothering blind and clueless. My son is precious and created in a specific way and I praise God for the differences he brings to our household.