Understanding Boys

Boys think differently to girls. Boys are physiologically different to girls. Boys develop differently to girls. These are fundamental facts.

As a mum to one boy and two girls, I can see these differences. I love all three of my children the same, but I am aware I have much less understanding of where my son is coming from than I do my girls.

Recently we have been having a few issues with my son and I have no idea how to solve them. What do you do when you struggle with a parenting issue? You turn to books for advice.

I like to read parenting books with a bit of a pinch of salt. I don’t want to be told ‘you should do this’ or ‘you must do that’. Often you can read them and come away thinking you are a total failure, done everything wrong and you’ve completely screwed up your children.

I believe, there is no right or wrong, all children are different, all parents and families are different, so I like to draw on the psychology behind the advice, as well as a few things I could try.

This week I downloaded the audiobook of ‘Raising boys’ by Steve Biddulph. I am a slow reader so thought I would get through this much quicker with an audio version. It is a fascinating book which discusses the differences between boys and girls. It talks about the biological and hormonal differences as well as the psychology behind them.

I loved it, as it didn’t make me feel a failure, it just gave me insight into a boys world and suggestions on how to embrace their personality and how I can help them in their future development. Hubby is also now listening to it, so we can work together.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has boys. As a female bringing up a boy, it can be difficult understanding how he feels, how he thinks.

The testosterone in his body makes him feel different, want to be more active and competitive. I need to learn how to embrace and nurture these traits in my son rather than quash them.

I am already feeling better about things, when you understand why a behaviour is happening, I think you are halfway there to either solving it or coming to terms with that’s just how it is and there is actually nothing wrong with it.

I am now on a big learning curve trying to understand my boy and nurture his differences.