I am a mother of three boys. I never had a brother, so my experience with little boys only began when I had my first son. Two sons later, I am still on a steep learning curve!

Raising children is challenging regardless of the sex of your child. However, I have found that most of my struggles have stemmed from not knowing when to just "let boys be boys:. Should I encourage this trait? Should I try and change this behavior? Is this normal for boys? These are all questions that I ask myself often.

I have a gripe with the way television portrays men on the majority of sitcoms. Most of the men on these shows are shown as stupid, pushovers or incapable. The wives on the shows completely control the husbands and even their kids think they are idiots. I assume they are writing these shows geared towards women viewers, and they think that this is the kind of man a woman wants.   

Not me! Personally, I want a real man. Luckily, I have one! My idea of a real man is someone who is strong, is not afraid to take control, stands up for himself and his family, and is strong in his convictions. That does not mean he controls me, or is not open to other ideas or influences. It just means that he is confident and secure as a man. I would not want one of those husbands on television that I could push around and treat like a moron.

This brings me back to the subject of raising boys. It seems that society is trying to change the image of men. In our quest to make them more "sensitive", we are stripping away their respectability. I don’t want my sons to grow up to be bumbling idiots that are made to be ashamed to be real men.

Blest With Sons seems to hold the same opinion as me as shown in her post "Boys will be….Men":

"Raising boys has gotten a whole lot harder than it used to be. Maybe because we’ve forgotten what boys are supposed to be like in our quest to make them sensitive and peaceful. Now I do want my boys to grow up to be kind and gentle when they need to be…But first and foremost, I want them to be manly men."