Description

#1 Help Him Manage His Emotions
• Teach your son to identify his feelings and learn how to handle them.
• Forcing him to hide his feelings is repressive and can make him feel ashamed, in turn creating a man who will have a hard time relating to others.
• Let him talk about different emotions - this will make him a better communicator.
• If your son comes home from school grumpy, acknowledge that he seems upset and talk about it later.
• Empathize with his feelings - he’ll welcome your caring and not feel lectured.
• Help boys to focus on the emotion rather than the problem and let him know that emotions – like sadness, pain, fear or anger - eventually sort themselves out and he will feel better.

#2 Team Him Empathy
• When a boy is able to empathize how somebody else feels, he will become a better friend now and a better husband and father in the future.
• Create “what-if” scenarios - use examples from areas that your son enjoys, like sports, and encourage him to stand in their shoes.
• Read more fiction books - research shows that understanding fictional characters feelings and real people feelings share the same part of the brain, creating a stronger ability to empathize with others.

#3 Strengthen His Self-Esteem
• Build your sons sense of self - this allows your son to grow into a competent, confident and worthy man.
• Avoid false praise and commend his efforts instead of his talents. Boys feel accomplished and handle challenges better when praise is aimed at how a task is approached and completed.
• Stay away from using expressions that fault a behavior based gender or suggests lack of control over actions. These labels have a negative impact on a boys self-worth.

#4 Instill Respect
• A boy who obeys rules, listens to authority figures, and interacts with a caring manner, grows up to be a respectful man.
• Impose consequences if a rule is broken - this builds respect for people and rules.
• Set good examples - treat adults with respect and insist that your son does the same.
• If conflict arises handle the situation gracefully. Listen to each side and explain the problem and emphasize respect for others during the resolution.