What Mothers Can Teach Sons

Joshua- Being Physically Active Makes You Feel Better About Yourself and Life

· Every mom has been frustrated by their children “vegging” around the house playing video games and has tried to entice them to go outside and be more physically active. The importance of physical exercise for healthy beings is obvious!

· My wife Mardi is constantly creating opportunities for our children to get healthier. She proposes hikes, games or activities that would get my kids off of their seats and onto their feet. Every Saturday and Sunday she tries to blow up the “Day of rest” idea by getting us all to go on a walk or just to get out of the house. She even had one of my sons so excited about exercising that he told me he wanted to start running and asked me to wake him up at 5:45 in the morning. That boy was 10!

· One of the best ways she’s found to get them more physically active is to have the boys play organized sports. She’s found it creates an easy structure for them to exercise and the effort to get them to practices and games can be shared with neighbors who are on the same teams. In order to get outside and stay healthy herself, she’s found she’ll take the entire family to these games and they’re no longer around all of the other electronic distractions.

Spencer- Discipline is your friend and not your enemy.

· Moms can teach their boys the importance that discipline can have in creating healthy and happy lives for people. Discipline is defined as consistently choosing to do something you don’t want to do simply because it is important to do.

· Many people want to be rich, famous and successful but few actually have the discipline to work to make it happen. True success does not just lie in having talent, but having the discipline to do the work it takes to be the best.

· My wife Mardi is teaching our son Spencer the importance of discipline. Every day the two of them get up on hour early to practice piano. Although he hasn’t completely learned to be so consistent, his mom is and together I can see his discipline and talents growing every day.

· Moms can model discipline by being disciplined. Try setting goals and accomplishing them as a family, talk about the experiences where you exercised discipline with your boys and help them to delay their desire for immediate gratification.

Britton- Being a Good Friend Helps You To Have Good Friends

· Moms can teach their children about the importance of friends. Most mothers instinctively understand what researchers are discovering about how our healthy social networks end up making us healthier physically.

· My wife Mardi has modeled the importance of both being an excellent friend and has taught my sons the importance of our social life as a key to healthy living. My wife Mardi can be heard daily in discussions with my boys about their friends, dating life, giving ideas and insights into to how best to resolve social issues. In our family she is the relationship coach.

· Moms can also play a big part in teacher their sons how to treat women and what is expected and unacceptable in the treatment of women. Moms can teach their children how to confront their friends when needed and how to serve and build the others that are around them.

· Moms can teach their children how to talk with a calmer tone, softer words, and to use words better instead of escalating with physical aggression.

Tanner- Everyone Comes from A Different Mold…And That’s What Makes Us Priceless

· No two people are exactly alike, whether from the same family, same gender or ethnicity, everyone brings their own approach, ability, strengths and weaknesses. The key to life is finding a way to release your talents, your way.

· Everyone has a song in their heart that only they can bring to the world. You can’t find lasting self-confidence until you find a way to get your song out of your heart. My wife Mardi helps my son to find and explore his talents of piano, even though he has a very unconventional way of doing it.

· By searching out the gifts and talents our boys have and being open to new and creative ways to use their talents, Moms can help their boys to better understand themselves and how to grow lasting self-esteem through exercising their talents.

Jake- Being a Peace Maker Is A Higher Road

· Moms understand the power of peace and follow the sage advice of “If you can choose to be right or have peace, always choose lasting peace.”

· What could be a more important lesson for our children than to help them find the peace in the midst of conflict or how to deescalate the tension during an argument. What if mom’s instilled the desire to not just hope for peace in their lives but instead to bring the peace to their life or make the peace.

· Usually when there is tension in the home, it is my wife Mardi or my son Jake, whom she has taught, who will step in and try to be the peace maker. She points out when the spirit in the home isn’t quite what it should be.