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42 reviews for:
Strong Mothers, Strong Sons: Lessons Mothers Need to Raise Extraordinary Men
Meg Meeker
3.58 AVERAGE
42 reviews for:
Strong Mothers, Strong Sons: Lessons Mothers Need to Raise Extraordinary Men
Meg Meeker
3.58 AVERAGE
Here is what I struggled with in this book, how broad and general she was about everything. She would make statements that just begged for siting some studies but there were none. It was more of "boys are this way..." or "as we all know..." but rather than make me think she's right it instead felt lazy of the author to not provide some evidence to support such statements.
In fairness, there are some great tips in this book that I hope I will be able to remember and implement as my son grows up.
In fairness, there are some great tips in this book that I hope I will be able to remember and implement as my son grows up.
Focused mostly on biological mothers with less reference to adoptive or stepmothers. Also more of a Christian focus than resonates with me.
I want a copy to keep and reference, because I'll surely forget the Nuggets of wisdom here.
I've read this book twice and I've cried both times. I know I will return to it again as my sons get older and I need more wisdom. My favorite part is how sons "see the face of God" in their mother's face; I have never forgotten that, and it guides my parenting.
This book comes up quickly if you are a pregnant woman or new mother who finds out you're having a boy. It is, unfortunately, very conservative. I will never take a child psychology book seriously if it cites James Dobson (of Focus on the Family infamy) positively, which Meeker does in the first chapter. Once I heard that, I looked her up, and laughed to find out that she was one of the main sources of the Rainbow Party urban myth, which had gone around my middle school and which I could never believe adults actually thought might be happening. Do not read this book if you're not interested in thinly veiled Christian propaganda, which apparently is becoming less thinly veiled now that Meeker has been name checked by Donald Trump.
Very much appreciated the incites from this book! Here are some highlights:
1) She pretty unapologetically lays out how mothers are/tend to be and how boys are/tend to be. And while I assume this irritates people—“well that’s not how it is for EVERYONE”—I believe it can generally be said that most boys respond to mothers and mothers respond to boys in the same or similar ways that Dr. Meeker describes.
2) She acknowledges that boys face immense societal pressure ie to be successful. Not always common to discuss in our hyper-feminist-focused society. People act like caring for boys and being attentive to their needs isn’t as important as girls, but that’s just silly.
3) Loved the chapter about emotions. “I think boys are far more sensitive than girls...but they don’t know how to deal with their emotions.” (Or are allowed emotions by popular society.) Ever heard, “Strong men don’t cry?” Dumb. A mothers job is to help her boys understand their emotions and learn out to cope and deal with them. Showing emotions, for example, is a great first step.
4) And finally, loved the chapter about sex and sex education. I’ve always hated the sentiment, “Teenage boys only want one thing...sex.” How insulting. Insulting to a boy who wants to have good grades, do well in sports, have a variety of friends of both genders, develop a strong work ethic, or even love his mother and father and foster a good relationship with them. How insulting for this kids entire character to be boiled down to a sex drive. It’s idiotic. And we can expect more of our sons. So I really really liked what Dr. Meeker had to say about these things.
At the end of the day, this book has helped me understand more about my baby boy and how I’d like to raise him, but even more than that, it’s helped me understand my husbands relationship to his mother and how I can respect or influence the boundaries of that relationship.
Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1) She pretty unapologetically lays out how mothers are/tend to be and how boys are/tend to be. And while I assume this irritates people—“well that’s not how it is for EVERYONE”—I believe it can generally be said that most boys respond to mothers and mothers respond to boys in the same or similar ways that Dr. Meeker describes.
2) She acknowledges that boys face immense societal pressure ie to be successful. Not always common to discuss in our hyper-feminist-focused society. People act like caring for boys and being attentive to their needs isn’t as important as girls, but that’s just silly.
3) Loved the chapter about emotions. “I think boys are far more sensitive than girls...but they don’t know how to deal with their emotions.” (Or are allowed emotions by popular society.) Ever heard, “Strong men don’t cry?” Dumb. A mothers job is to help her boys understand their emotions and learn out to cope and deal with them. Showing emotions, for example, is a great first step.
4) And finally, loved the chapter about sex and sex education. I’ve always hated the sentiment, “Teenage boys only want one thing...sex.” How insulting. Insulting to a boy who wants to have good grades, do well in sports, have a variety of friends of both genders, develop a strong work ethic, or even love his mother and father and foster a good relationship with them. How insulting for this kids entire character to be boiled down to a sex drive. It’s idiotic. And we can expect more of our sons. So I really really liked what Dr. Meeker had to say about these things.
At the end of the day, this book has helped me understand more about my baby boy and how I’d like to raise him, but even more than that, it’s helped me understand my husbands relationship to his mother and how I can respect or influence the boundaries of that relationship.
Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I picked this up because I have a teenage son now and I needed some tips. I liked the personal stories but I quickly ran out of steam. That's not the book's fault - I think I'm looking for more of a listicle approach or magazine article versus an entire book. I found myself skipping around and then just losing interest all together.
Next time I find myself in need of parental advice, I'll Google instead of picking up an entire book. Or, I'll pick up a book that has lots of bullet points in addition to the personal stories and in depth advice so I can pick and choose where to do the deep dive. That's just my reading style preference for this topic :)
Next time I find myself in need of parental advice, I'll Google instead of picking up an entire book. Or, I'll pick up a book that has lots of bullet points in addition to the personal stories and in depth advice so I can pick and choose where to do the deep dive. That's just my reading style preference for this topic :)
3.5 I thought there were some really good parts of this book, but there was enough to drag it down for me: repetitive content, pro cry it out stance, and way too much religion and god stuff. If that had been more obvious in the book's description, I wouldn't have bought it.
I took many notes on what I read in this book. I love the message that I am raising a son to become an extraordinary man. I took things that I feel like will eventually help me as I navigate this trying period with a young 5 year old boy. Hopefully, it will make a difference. There was a lot of great stuff, but I walked away knowing it wasn't one of those books that I would recommend to everyone and their dog.