The Perfect Life Fallacy
When one starts to take his “life plan” seriously, it can be easy then to fall into the “perfect life fallacy.” But, a good life is never fully for ourselves.
Men in the Making
Your guide to issues regarding the education and moral formation of boys
Latest episodes
Helping Your Son Discover the Meaning of His Life
The first step in approaching high school as life prep is to help your son discern the purpose of his life.
Life Prep: Introduction to the Series
High school shouldn’t just prepare boys for college—it should prepare them for life. First in a series for parents and educators, reframing the high school years as “life prep.”
A Good Use of Summer
Summer offers unique opportunities for building a strong family culture and assisting a boy’s personal growth in matters physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual.
How to Not Be Anxious as a Parent
Parental anxiety is on the rise. This anxiety is understandable, but the degree to which parents are anxious today is neither necessary nor productive. How can you respond?
Parental Presence, Part II
Parental presence is not achieved by physical presence alone. Ask: what one thing can I do to become a more truly present parent in my children’s lives?
Parental Presence, Part I
While “quality time” has long been the measure of parental presence, prioritizing and even sacrificing for “quantity time” with one’s children can have a deep impact.
5 Ways to Make the Faith Attractive to Boys
Five practical ideas for presenting the Catholic faith in a way that is attractive to boys.
What Is a Man?
Though it’s true that a man ought to be good, merely telling a boy to “be a good person” is not good enough. Boys want to know what it means to be a man.
There Is No Manual
While good counsel can help, no one can give you the playbook for raising your child; you have to write it.
The World Needs Your Son to Be Professionally Ambitious
Last week’s article focused on leisure—wasting time well. This week, I will consider the other side of the coin, work, focusing especially on professional work.
In Defense of Wasting Time
Professional and vocational work requires practice and the building up of good habits; but so does leisure. Do you let your boys "waste time" well?
Trust Your Gut
Reality is more complex than rigid paradigms can capture. Decisions on the ground are a mix of principles, common sense, and God’s guiding grace. Follow your gut.
Don't Spoil Your Son
Do we have guiding principles around giving good things to our children? Here are four battlegrounds for preventing a boy from growing up spoiled.
The Internet and Pornography
He will not only be a man who truly knows how to love, but he will develop a great personality because he will be a fuller person. And that, although perhaps uncommon, is only natural.
What Is Your Level of Boy Tolerance?
As a culture, we have a decreasing tolerance for boyhood itself. Often we punish boys for natural boyish behavior. But, such energy is the raw material of virtue, not to be stifled in every occasion.
Why Boys Need Fewer Rules and More Rites of Passage
The objective of real education: not the rule, but the man who no longer needs it. Rites of passage, especially, can help signal to the young man that he is ready to take on more self-governance.
Failure Is a Great Tutor—Don’t Fire Him
Failure is a great tutor. You needn’t hire him; he will come. When he does, will you let him teach your son?
What is Freedom?
Freedom is an ideal that people are instinctively drawn to. At the same time, the word is often used in unclear ways. It is worth spending time reflecting on what freedom is.
Helping Boys Overcome IDD
Aside from wisdom, there exists no greater gift than friendship. How do we prepare our boys to receive it?