Yesterday, I joined Idaho Matters host (yep, it finally happened)—and fellow boy mom—Gemma Gaudette to talk about the paperback release of Building Boys and the challenges facing boys today.
We covered a lot in 26 minutes, including:
Why differences in the pace of male and female development matter
How we sometimes treat boys as problems to manage rather than children to nurture
Why letting boys struggle helps them develop resilience
What emotional intelligence actually looks like in everyday life
Why video games may be a more meaningful source of connection than adults realize
Gemma also shared a wonderfully relatable story about learning that her college-bound son had been assigned two roommates. Her immediate instinct was to help him fix the situation.
Her husband’s response?
“He can figure it out.”
Sometimes that’s exactly what our boys need from us: the opportunity to figure it out—and the confidence that comes from discovering that they can.
But the biggest theme of our conversation was connection.
After years of interviewing researchers, educators and experts, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: The most important thing boys need to thrive is connection.
You can listen to our conversation here:
The Challenges Facing Boys and What Parents Can Do to Help
If it resonates, please share it with another parent, educator or person who cares about boys.
And, of course, Building Boys is now available in paperback!
Here’s to building boys!
Jen
P.S. If you wanna hear more from me & Gemma, she was our guest on ON BOYS podcast in 2023! You can listen (or download) the episode here.
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