Bringing up Boys and Bringing up Girls

I recently finished reading Bringing up Girls by Dr. James Dobson and found it to be an interesting but challenging read.  Before having Sweetpea, I thought raising girls would be easier because I am a girl and I know girls.  With today's society and technology, the way I was raised is going to be completely different.  I remember having a family Juno email account and being so proud of that.  Dr. Dobson shows some scary statistics about girls and technology and the way they are using it at young ages.  He also brings out the point that every girl, no matter how old, longs to be loved and cared for like a princess.  No wonder Disney has cashed in on that love through the Disney Princesses series!  After I finished the book, I sat back and realized that I had learned about myself and the way that God has wired me to long to be cherished by Jon.  Dr. Dobson continually emphasized the importance of two parents in the lives of girls, but especially dads.  Fathers have the ability to nurture and encourage their daughters as they grow or they can crush their daughters and scar them for life.  Mothers are, of course, important too as they show their daughters how to be ladies.  I hope and pray that Sweetpea grows up to be a beautiful lady inside and out and finds an amazing Godly man to love and cherish her without compromise.

  About two months ago, I read Bringing up Boys by Dr. James Dobson and this book amazed me at how differently boys and girls think.  The rough and tumble lifestyle that results in lots of stain remover and possibly ER visits is regular life for a boy.  Buddy is still young but I already see that daring side of looking before he leaps or climbing on top of everything.  He isn't afraid of crashing into a table as he runs around our living room.  Dr. Dobson helped me to see inside of a boy's brain, per say, and realize how they are wired.  God has designed men and women to be vastly different in the way we think and talk and it amazing to see the scientific research to back that up.  Just like in Bringing up Girls, Dr. Dobson shows the value of a two parent household and mainly the importance of a father in the life of a boy.  This book challenged me to think about how we are raising Buddy and how we want him to be a gentleman in a society that tells him that he doesn't have to be one.  

Overall, I recommend both of these books if you are looking for practical advice and knowledge of how your child works.  As a mother of both a little boy and a girl, it was eye opening to see how differently Buddy and Sweetpea are desgined by God to be!