Raising “Manly” Men

I’m all for independent career women and equal rights, equal pay, glass ceiling breaking etc, etc. And I definitely think it’s  time that the U.S. elected a woman for president…I mean shit, machista Latin American countries like Costa Rica and Nicaragua have done it for crying out loud!

But seriously, I think that women are beginning to encroach on the male species and through dominance have begun to strip men of their “manliness”, their “gentlemanness”, their “gallantryness”.

Ok, obviously I am making up words, and aside from that, the meanings of these words would be defined differently according to different people from different countries, of different sexes, etc, etc.

But still, I can’t help but to think that something has changed, altered, or has been modified in the male race. I am seeing more and more boys/guys who are extremely comfortable with expressing their emotions (and I’m not talking about anger or frusteration), more and more boys/guys who are submissive and lack self esteem/confidence, and more and more boys/guys WHO DON’T OPEN DOORS FOR FEMALES!!

But is it really the guys’ fault?  I mean, they’re confused.  They don’t know if they should or shouldn’t open the door because their damned if they do and damned if they don’t, right?

Well, I tell you what.  In my house, a house full of guys, one of those guys will be at the door before I am to open it.  And if one of those guys walks through the door before I do, they must rewind and do it all over again.

Damn straight, my boys are learning how to open doors for women.(There was a time that when a woman walked into a room or up to a table, all the men stood up OUT OF RESPECT.  What happened to those days?  What happened to the days when men respected women and bowed (literally) in a woman’s presence?)

Anyways, so I want my boys to be manly men.  And what that means to me is men who take care of and protect their woman and family.  But on another front, being “manly men” to me means knowing how to change a tire, how to repair an appliance, how to paint walls, hang pictures, change the oil in a car, maintain a yard.  These kinds of things, are the kinds of things I think a man should know how to do to take care of his home (whether he’s single or married).

And guess what? More and more guys do NOT know how to do these kinds of things.  Is it because we’re too busy working to teach them?  Is it because we pay others to do the job for us?  Are we so focused on a textbook education that we have forgotten about the social and hands-on education?

I don’t know, there could be thousands of reasons for this but I know I want my boys to know how to do these things. Fortunately, their dad is very handy and has taught them little lessons here and there (cuz really, that’s all it takes, little lessons).  As a result, yesterday afternoon Christian wanted to buy wood at Home Depot desperate to build a chair (don’t ask me, he gets these ideas and they will consume his mind until he’s able to do something about it or with it).

So a trip to home depot it was, to buy some wood, get home and let him fly.

I’ll let the pics speak for themselves, but I want to point out that YES, a 14 year old boy is capable of using a metersaw, all it takes is educating him on how to use it correctly and carefully.

He didn’t get to finish it, but I’d have to say he’s definitely learning how to be a “manly” man! However, I don’t want to fail to mention that he also knows how to sew, cook, and clean laundry

Peace Out!

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