What I Want My Son to Know

Today a beautiful package of flowers and chocolate was delivered to my door from my sweet man.  Miles, of course, being the curious 2-year-old that he is, was full of questions and wanted to know where his flowers and chocolate were.  I told him that Daddy only sent them to Mommy because I'm married to him (marriage being a concept he is just starting to grasp).  

He said, quite honestly, "You married?  Where your dress?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his little brain trying to figure this whole situation out.  He'd looked at our wedding album the other day, so he knew that I had worn a wedding dress at some point...he just thought that I needed to be wearing it in order to be "married" to his daddy and receive that gift.  He didn't understand that a wedding is a one-time thing, whereas marriage is lasting.

It seems like our time these days is full of Miles asking a million questions as his growing brain explodes with new knowledge and concepts.  It's my responsibility to help him grow and teach him about this world.  Frankly, that scares me like crazy.  There's so much I want to teach him and so little time to do it.  Being a woman, I also feel inept to teach him how to be a man.  Yet, I realize that, being a woman, I have a unique perspective on what it actually means to be a man.  Here's what I want my son to know:  

• You should do and be whatever God has called you to be.  Far be it from me to stand in your way.
• Women should be treasured and treated with honor.  They are not for your personal pleasure.
• Being obsessed with hunting, guns, and toughness isn't what makes a real man.
• A real man puts God before anything else.
• A real man desires the responsibility and fulfillment that comes from marrying a good woman.
• A real man puts his wife and his children before himself.
• A real man has a tender heart for children.
• A real man is not afraid to cry.
• Being smart or intellectual doesn't make you any less if a man's man.
• It's okay to be different.