As moms, we are responsible for teaching our sons how to respect women and treat them with love and kindness. On a daily basis, we can show our boys how women think, work, play, and communicate as they interact with us. And throughout the year, I’ve found there are special times when I can emphasize gentlemanly good manners and gracious living. At my house, this is accomplished through special monthly dates with my son.
My husband and I schedule monthly dates with each of our two children. Our goal is to have one-on-one, quality time with each one, getting to know them individually as they change and grow and become the person God has planned for them to be. When I go out with my son, we do it up right. We plan our date with a great deal of excitement, deciding where we will go and what we will wear. (We usually dress up!) My son loves cars, so it is a big deal to him to open and shut the car door for us when we arrive at our destination. When I tell him what a gentleman he is and how thankful I am for him, he just beams. He loves being appreciated.
Our dates are the perfect opportunity for me to lay the groundwork in teaching him how to treat a young lady (some time in the way distant future!), being respectful, kind, and courteous. I want to see him being careful to use his best manners, and so now, I’m teaching him a few fundamentals about understanding the differences between men and women, educating him on how different occasions call for different social behaviors, and helping him to feel comfortable in different environments. Plus, with my behavior, by valuing him and the time we spend together, I am showing him what he should expect from a young lady (some time in the way distant future!).
Valentine’s Day, for now, is about the love of our family. If you’re like me, the thought of getting a babysitter, going out on a weeknight, and fighting the Valentine’s crowd is just not that appealing. We don’t make an elaborate night of it (I would much rather have a nice, quiet, intimate dinner at home with my husband after the kids go to bed), but we do a few special things to have fun as a family and to show our love to each other. One of the things that my son likes to help me with is the dessert. (See my recipe for Chocolate Covered Strawberries below.)
Allowing my son to work with me in the kitchen gives him a sense of being needed and of having a place to fill. Men need to feel needed. They need to know that they are valued. That desire is in a little boy’s heart as well. My son wants to know that I need him. He wants to know there are certain “jobs” and activities around the house that require his unique and special gifts. He needs to know there is a place that only he can fill. If I can constantly show him that he is valued and loved for who he is, then my hope is that he won’t settle for less from the woman he chooses as his spouse (some time in the way distant future!).
Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe
Ingredients
1 pound of strawberries
1 16-ounce bag of milk chocolate chips, semi sweet chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Wash and dry 1 pound of strawberries. Do not remove cap.
- Set them out to dry completely.
- While they dry, melt one 16-ounce bag of milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or white chocolate chips in a double boiler.
- Dip half- to three-fourths of strawberry in melted chocolate. Allow chocolate dipped strawberries to set on wax paper.
Alternate melting method: Use the microwave. Heat chips at 80% power for 1 minute at a time, stirring after each minute until completely melted.
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What special ways do you “date” your son?
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Kelly is a wife and mommy…full time. Foodie, coffee addict, amateur photographer…part time. Savvy saver…big time. She writes at Faithful Provisions.
Kelly Hancock is the author of Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Standard of Living…and Giving. An exile from corporate America since becoming a stay-at-home mom, Kelly learned quickly to live on less than half the family’s former income. As she mastered the principles of what she calls “Grocery Savings,” she began sharing her knowledge with others on her daily cost-cutting blog, FaithfulProvisions.com.
My boys are 21, 9, 9 and 8 and one of the things I do for them that they consistently tell me means alot to them is putting notes in their lunches (or in the mail to the oldest). The notes can be little knock knock jokes I know will make them smile or the reasons I think they are awesome or something more that I really want to sink in like, “you were created for greatness”.
Good read, and I’m a dad.