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Welcome to Episode 28 of Redeeming the Chaos with Laurie Christine. Today we’ll be discussing some common mistakes moms make with their teenage sons.
MISTAKES MOMS MAKE WITH THEIR TEENAGE SONS
Today we are continuing with our conversation with Michael Ross, author and former editor for Focus on the Family’s Breakaway magazine for boys. We’ll be discussing some common mistakes moms make with their teenage sons, and how to avoid them. (The mistakes… not the sons. 🙂 We’ll also be talking about how to nurture your son’s relationship with God during his pre-teen and teen years as well as how you can guard your heart as your boys grow up and begin to pull away from you.
SPECIAL GUEST – MICHAEL ROSS
Our special guest today is Michael Ross. Michael Ross is an award-winning author and former editor of BREAKAWAY, a national magazine for teen guys published by Focus on the Family. Several of his books include WHAT YOUR SON ISN’T TELLING YOU, and an unofficial Minecraft devotional book for boys, BUILDING FAITH BLOCK BY BLOCK. Michael and his wife Tiffany live near St. Louis, Missouri, with their son Christopher. (Affiliate links).
This is the second half of a two-part interview. If you missed the first part of my interview with Michael Ross, be sure to go back and listen to episode 27 in which we talk about how we as moms can be intentional about connecting with our sons during their teenage years.
You can listen to my interview with Michael here:
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Here is an overview of what Michael and I discussed.
4 MISTAKES MOMS MAKE WITH THEIR TEENAGE SONS
As our boys enter the pre-teen and teenage years, it’s important that we don’t make these common mistakes:
- Making Fun of body changes or emotional ups and downs
- Forcing him to be someone he’s not
- Comparing him with siblings or peers
- Discouraging his dreams or ambitions
Nurturing your son’s abilities doesn’t mean you fit him into your ideal image of who you think he should be. Help your son discover his gifts and skills and use them for God’s glory.
HOW TO NURTURE YOUR SON’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
- Be intentional
- Have spiritual connections or Bible study several times a week. This could include praying together, family devotions, or every-day conversations.
- It takes a team – get your son connected to a church youth group or student ministry.
- Make sure their are other godly, male influences in your son’s life, including pastors, teachers, coaches or scout leaders.
- Create a support group for moms of boys – or join my Facebook group! 🙂
HOW CAN MOMS OF BOYS GUARD THEIR HEARTS?
As our boys begin to grow up and grow apart from us, how can we prepare our hearts for this transition?
- Be aware of what’s happening and know that it’s normal for your son to throw off the identity you’ve given him. Give him space to grow into the person that God created him to be.
- It’s normal for kids to experiment with different identities and personalities during the teen years.
- Your role as a mom will naturally transition from supervisor, to coach, to friend.
- Keep giving hugs
- Your son needs to hear the words:
- “I love you.”
- “I’m here for you.”
- “I’m proud of you.”
- “I care about you.”
- And remember, kids almost always circle back around. They may be “out of communication range” for a few years, but most of the time, they come back around and desire a close relationship with mom and dad.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MICHAEL ROSS
You can learn more about Michael Ross and purchase some of his books on his Amazon (affiliate links):
You can also connect with Michael on his Facebook page – Michael Ross Books https://www.facebook.com/michaelrossbooks
DON’T FORGET – THE SUMMER FAMILY FRUIT CHALLENGE
Just a reminder, we are a few weeks into our Summer Family Fruit Challenge. Did you sign up yet? It’s not too late! Go to www.FamilyFruitChallenge.com to sign up. You will receive an email every Monday morning through the rest of the summer that will help you teach your kids about the Fruit of the Spirit. Each week of the challenge includes a short devotional about one of the fruits of the Spirit, printable Bible memory cards, and links to songs, games and activities that will help your kids develop godly character qualities. You can learn all about it at www.FamilyFruitChallenge.com.
JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP
Also, I would love to invite you to join me in our Facebook group. It’s called “Raising Courageous Boys,” and it’s a place for Christian boy moms to connect and encourage each other on this wild, wonderful, chaotic adventure of raising boys. I have a link to the group in the show notes, or you can go to Redeemingthechaos.com.
Thank you so much for joining me for Episode 28 of Redeeming the Chaos with Laurie Christine. If you’d like more resources to help you raise courageous boys, check out my books and resource page HERE.
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