Raising a Good Husband

As moms, I know that we all try to do what we can to give our daughters the skills they will need to be good wives and mamas.

But what about our sons? I think society typically tells us we should let our husbands teach our sons how to be "men". If you are blessed to have a good husband, then your daughter gets to see first-hand what she should be looking for in her husband and your son gets to see first-hand what he should strive to be.

But what's the mama's role in teaching our sons? I believe we have special opportunities to show them what a wife would appreciate in a husband. These, too, are valuable lessons.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to teach Dawson such a lesson.

Since he is homeschooled, he has the benefit of leisure time during the day. He was on Facebook yesterday and noticed that one of his friends, a girl, was home sick with the flu. He and she started texting back and forth for a bit. He came downstairs and told me that Kellie was sick and he felt bad for her. I suggested that he take her something to lift her spirits. (My actual suggestion was that he make her some homemade chicken noodle soup, because he's such a great cook, but he said she hadn't had an appetite in several days.) So, my next suggestion was that he take her some magazines to help pass the time.

We gathered up some recent editions of magazines Kyndal subscribes to and put them in a gift bag. Then he wrote her some sentiments on a card and put it in the bag. We dropped the bag off on her front porch and he texted her and told her to look outside.

She texted Dawson and told him that he made her day. And she put a Facebook status that said that it was the sweetest thing a guy has done for her. Her mom even commented about how sweet it was.

Now, I'm not saying I am raising Dawson to marry Kellie (although she is a sweetie!). But being thoughtful to a young lady is an important quality that a future wife (and the future mother-in-law) will certainly appreciate.

If we don't teach them how to do it, who will???