Day One:
Dr. Meg Meeker: Being boy is good, male is good, masculinity is good. And guess what? It’s very different from womanhood and femininity. And I think that many people feel if you fuse the two, you can find this sort of no man’s land, where you can be a little of this and a little of that, but you can’t.
John Fuller: Well, that’s Dr. Meg Meeker. She’s our guest today, sharing about the importance of allowing and encouraging boys to embrace their natural tendencies to be adventure-seeking and risk-taking. This is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m John Fuller, and this show with Dr. Meeker was one of our best programs from 2025, offering her insights about boys and a pretty compelling narrative that challenges some of the modern paradigms.
Jim Daly: Yeah, John, I think today boys are growing up in a world that is often at odds with their emerging masculinity. I mean, we talk about that as toxic and all those kind of adjectives we throw at it. But I am glad. I grew up at a time when boys could be boys, and we got into trouble, and we did things and, you know, it- it’s just been boy, innocent boy stuff, you know, trying to be adventuresome in the neighborhood-
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … or whatever it might be. But these are things that are so discouraged now that the culture frowns upon. And I am looking forward to our discussion today with Dr. Meg Meeker, pediatrician, and she has so many years of knowledge about boys and girls, too. But today, we’re talking about her book, Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons. Having two boys, I’m looking forward to this.
John: There’s a lot of content here, and we’re gonna get into it. Uh, Dr. Meeker is always a great guest, a popular guest. She’s widely recognized as one of the country’s leading authorities on parenting and teens and children’s health. Uh, you mentioned the book, and we have that here at the ministry. Learn more about Dr. Meeker and her book when you stop by FocusontheFamily.com/broadcast, or give us a call, 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY.
Jim: Meg, welcome back.
Dr. Meeker: Oh, thank you so much.
Jim: (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: I love seeing you. I love being here. It’s always so uplifting and encouraging.
Jim: Well, it’s fun. And-
Dr. Meeker: So, it is fun.
Jim: You know, it’s… Uh, I think the opening question is a little off, uh, topic, but, you know, you have been a pediatrician for about 30 years-
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … I think you mentioned to me. 30 years of observing young people and some of these patients you’ve known for a long time, right?
Dr. Meeker: Yep, yeah.
Jim: When you look at the culture, when you first became a pediatrician to now-
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … do you see a drastic change in the environment, just generally?
Dr. Meeker: Oh, oh! (laughs) It’s enormous. And as we were talking before, people say, “Well, aren’t you gonna retire?” And I said, “No, because the challenges that parents have now are so much more intense than they were 10, 20 years ago.” When I was in medical school, just, you know, to kind of, uh, it, this dates myself, but, uh, in the ’80s, in the DSM-4, 3, at that time, homosexuality was a psychiatric disorder.
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: In, in the… And I’m not saying that… Yeah. And now we’ve got, um, we’ve got so much more that, you know, w- with the, uh, transgender, we’ve got the drug use, we’ve got huge rise in depression and anxiety. And when I came out of medical school, really, it was a psychiatrist who took care of kids with anxiety and depression. Pediatricians didn’t have to know that much about it. That has completely shifted because now psychiatrists ha- are, uh, so full with taking care of the kids who are schizophrenic, manic depression, that a lot of it is spilled into the laps of pediatricians. So we have learned how to take care of anxiety and depression because it’s such a big part of our work. That’s huge.
Jim: Right.
Dr. Meeker: And a lot of pediatricians don’t know what to do because, um, it takes a lot of time and energy and, and training to learn how to take care of kids with depression and anxiety. So on many levels, it’s really changed.
Jim: Yeah, it’s kind of interesting.
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Uh, because the pediatricians, I mean, you’re seeing these kids for the first time and for a long time working with the parents on their physical wellbeing, but their emotional wellbeing as well, more so than any other specialty, obviously.
Dr. Meeker: Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm.
Jim: So you’re, you know, right from the get-go, you’re with the mom and dad. I can remember those early visits. We had some hilarious visits with our pediatrician-
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … with Trent and Troy. They were actually-
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: … our one, uh, doctor was just, had a great sense of humor.
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: So he would tug at us as parents and go to our weaknesses pretty constantly, you know?
John: (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: (laughs) It’s fun.
John: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah. It was just fun. Yes.
Jim: We were the overzealous parents-
Dr. Meeker: Oh, yeah.
Jim: … so you remember that type of-
Dr. Meeker: Oh, well, yes, exactly.
Jim: … so you’d hook them and bring them in, you know?
Dr. Meeker: You do, yes.
Jim: But in that regard, you wrote this book probably 10 years ago now.
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons. I would think you’re saying now this is even more intense.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: And speak to that environment with boys, uh, that I led with, in terms of how we, as a culture, are underserving boys and not allowing them to be boys.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah, absolutely. I wrote this book because doing my research for my book, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, I realized how under siege men are, adult men, and how masculinity had taken on this in the public, it connoted, oppression, people being mean, from a woman’s standpoint. Women sort of-
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: … you know, taught this. And I thought, “Wow,” you know, “If this is happening to men, what’s happening to boys?” And that’s what really prompted me writing The Boy Should Be Boy book, because I saw this emergence of the, um, degradation of masculinity and turning masculinity into an ugly, dirty word. And I think that comes out of a lot of the women’s movement, you know, from way back. But I really did it, and, and I, I really believe it’s more pertinent now than ever because in the book, I say, “Being boy is good, male is good, masculinity is good. And guess what? It’s very different from womanhood and femininity.” And I think that many people feel, if you fuse the two, you can find this sort of no man’s land where you can be a little of this and a little of that, but you can’t.
Jim: It’s so true. And, and I am thinking about the messaging that occurs toward boys, that in somehow, just because you’re a boy, you’re bad.
Dr. Meeker: Exactly.
Jim: And we may not even notice that-
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: … even as parents, but how the schools disparage that.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: Um, what is happening in the culture, I think in both parts, one that we have to be equal-
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … and we have to, as teachers and people engaged with young people, we have to communicate that. And then secondly, this idea that boys are worse than girls.
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: And rather than both are beautiful, both are great, both are created in God’s image.
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: But who’s winning with that?
Dr. Meeker: Well, you know, we say everybody has to be equal, but we don’t really mean it. We want women to be more powerful than men. And this is what’s really emerged.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: And this is where the denigration of masculinity, the idea of masculinity, manhood has come from. And I’ve seen it, you know, um, all along since the late ’70s and into the ’80s, you know, the emergence of women’s power. Women don’t wanna be equal to men. They wanna be better, and they wanna pound. And it’s too bad, the idea that you can champion both a boy and a girl or a man or woman side by side, they don’t believe that’s true. One has to win, or the other has to win. If you look in early elementary schools, a lot of the school teachers are women. And when they come into a classroom and they’ve been taught via, you know, subconsciously, television, radio, media, and so forth, that masculinity is not a good thing, that boys are kind of out of control, they need to be medicated ’cause they’re just too bouncing, they don’t color in the lines, you’ve got a bunch of young women who are in early elementary and elementary schools. And so, there’s this natural undergirding bias against boys that begins that early.
Jim: Huh. Well, I, you know-
Dr. Meeker: Yep.
Jim: … I… This is a comedic, uh, example of that. But, you know, when you’re at Christmastime, you’re watching The Christmas Story. And so who’s out at the flagpole sticking their tongue on the flagpole?
Dr. Meeker: Exactly.
Jim: It’s not a bunch of girls, it’s the boys.
Dr. Meeker: It’s the boys.
Jim: The double dog derriac type.
Dr. Meeker: Yes, exactly.
John: (laughs)
Jim: That is an elementary school playground.
Dr. Meeker: Exactly.
Jim: And that, that’s what I remember.
Dr. Meeker: Right.
Jim: And the point is, it’s unhealthy to work against that-
Dr. Meeker: Right.
Jim: … and to tell boys not to be daring-
Dr. Meeker: Right.
Jim: … not to be adventuresome. It, it is kind of that God-given instinct-
Dr. Meeker: It-
Jim: … of what we are is male.
Dr. Meeker: It is.
Jim: … is to go to the edge, to be the pioneer. It doesn’t preclude girls from doing things like that. But, man, don’t make us girls.
Dr. Meeker: Well, and that’s the big rub, is that I don’t believe… I believe we’re at a time where we don’t really want two sexes, we want neutrality. We want sameness, and we don’t want equality, we want sameness. And in order to do that, we have to emasculate men and boys. And I think that, you know, it’s interesting you talk about risk, taking a risk, we’re also a very risk-averse society.
Jim: Mm-hmm
John: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: We don’t want anybody to be harmed. Parents, young parents, they don’t want their kids vaccinated. They don’t want them this, they don’t want them on antibiotics. Some young parents will say, “I don’t want my parents to hold my baby because for the first three months ’cause of this and this and this.” We don’t want anybody taking risk. And if there’s anything inherent to masculinity, it’s risk-taking. It’s very interesting, too, because we can say or articulate the differences between men and women, boys and girls. But think about this. You ask any kid if his mom was different from his dad, there’s no question.
Jim: Absolutely.
Dr. Meeker: You were a little more afraid of your dad. I was. You also, look, I can’t tell you the number of mothers, single mothers I see who are afraid of their teenage boys.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: Because teenage boys are angry who don’t have a dad around, and they will go at their mother. If you think about to what, what was it in, uh, Louisiana a number of years ago where they had a lot of violence in the school. And, um, these kids were out of control, these teenage boys were out of control. And, uh, 40 men in the area said, “We’re done with this. We are going to appoint one dad to go in the school every day and just walk the halls.”
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: And so, one man, I think there were African Americans, walked in the halls and within two weeks, the violence went away.
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: Masculinity is, it’s a presence, it’s a power, it’s a, a spirit, if you will, in a very positive way that’s very different from the feminine spirit. And it’s so powerful it’s hard to articulate it, and yet everybody knows it’s there. But we’re in a culture that wants to neutralize masculinity and then femininity as well.
Jim: Well, one of the things that the culture works against, men know this, boys know this, there is a pecking order.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: You go to the gym; there’s a pecking order.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: You know it pretty quickly when you walk in who’s the top dog, who’s the second in command, who’s at the bottom. It just is.
Dr. Meeker: Yes.
Jim: It’s true on the playground when you’re picking teams. Thankfully, I used to be the guy that got to pick some of the teams, ended up quarterback of the football team. I mean, there’s part of that. And again, there’s just this institutional hatred toward even that orientation that there should be leadership in the playground.
Dr. Meeker: Right.
Jim: We want to eliminate leadership in the playground. Why do we want to do that? Well, let’s get to the book content. You list seven secrets. I want to get into that. So why don’t you just list them and then we’ll come back and ask some questions about each one?
Dr. Meeker: You bet. Uh, know how to encourage your son, understand what your boys need. Their needs are different from girls. Recognize that boys were made for the outdoors, sticks and trees and rocks. Remember that boys need rules.
Jim: (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: Acknowledge that virtue is not just for girls. Learn how to teach your son about the big questions in life. And remember that the most important person in your son’s life is you. Now, those sound very basic, but when you really drill down, a lot of parents, when it comes to boys, particularly mothers, “How do I encourage my son? What do I say? You know, I don’t wanna step on toes.” So they sound basic, but when you actually try to live them out, it can be a little trickier.
Jim: No, that’s good. Let’s go to the first one and unpack that a little bit. That’s knowing how to encourage their sons. You’re not talking about false praise-
Dr. Meeker: No.
Jim: … because we sniffed that out pretty quick, too. Everybody gets a trophy.
John: Yeah. (laughs)
Jim: That ain’t true.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: And, uh, sorry for the grammar there, but the, it’s on purpose.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: But the idea that it’s not false praise that sons need-
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: … but what do they need in that area of, of lifting up?
Dr. Meeker: Well, again, fundamentally, parents need to understand your boy is not your daughter. So if you’re going to encourage your son in the correct way, in a biblical way, you encourage his masculinity.
Jim: What does that sound like? Gimme an example.
Dr. Meeker: It, it sounds like, you know, “Go outside and find something to do and go make a fort. Go, go figure out what to do. Take a risk. Climb the tree, make snowballs. Make an ice fort. If you fall off the top of it, it’s okay.” You know, to really encourage your kids to live and to… (laughs) I always say, every playground at school should have a couple of big trees in it. You’d never find a tree in a playground at school, ’cause they don’t want the boys to fall out and hurt themselves.
Jim: Right. (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: Or they don’t want the boys to be able to climb the top, top of the tree and the girls can’t.
John: They’ve been changing a lot of the equipment at schools near us.
Dr. Meeker: Yes.
Jim: Seriously.
John: They’ve been making it safe. Oh, the slides are gone, the metal slides are gone.
Jim: Everything’s flat. (laughs)
John: Everything… There’s all the plastic chips at the bottom now. So when you, when you fall, you hit something’s soft.
Dr. Meeker: So if you’re going to encourage your son to walk in a masculine way, you encourage him to use his physical and emotional strength.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: And that means climbing and running and, yes, hitting, maybe not other people, but encourage that physical strength. Because the bottom line is men are stronger than women.
Jim: I mean, again, Meg, some people are gonna be hearing this and going, “Oh my gosh, that’s so archaic.”
Dr. Meeker: Well-
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: “They are so behind the times.” And it’s fine because this is what we all agree on. You know, in terms of the Christian ethos to this, men will be men. We need Davids.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: We need the little boy Davids-
Dr. Meeker: We do.
Jim: … in the playgrounds.
Dr. Meeker: Exactly. Who are not afraid. Who, who are-
Jim: Yeah, meaning, “I’ll sl- I’ll slay the giant. Give it to me.”
Dr. Meeker: Exactly. “I will get hurt. I don’t mind being wounded. I don’t even mind my feelings being hurt and a girl calling me something.” And for those who say that men aren’t stronger than women, I would ask any woman out there, if you’re in downtown Chicago at 1:00 in the morning, do you feel differently walking on a dark street alone or with a six-foot-two husband? There’s no question.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
John: Mm-hmm. This is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, and our guest today is Dr. Meg Meeker. We’re covering some of the content in her terrific book, Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons. Get a copy from us here at the ministry. The link is at FocusontheFamily.com/broadcast.
Jim: John, you have a daughter that’s very outdoorsy.
John: I do.
Jim: So I know that was running through your head.
John: Yeah.
Jim: Uh, so it’s not, again, it’s not a one-size-fits-all. But I mean she’s, she’s worked-
John: She lives-
Jim: … in parks.
John: She, she lives outdoors, and climbs mountains, and runs marathons. And there’s no end to her delight in being outdoors.
Jim: (laughs)
John: But she also has this very feminine side to her that wants to connect with people, that has this huge heart, particularly for kids who are at risk and, and struggling. So I see kind of that mom part of her built-in kind of coming out. But yeah, there-
Jim: But that’s interesting, Meg. I mean, again, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all. And so you go with your child’s bent in that regard. If they love the outdoors, that’s great.
Dr. Meeker: And that’s what God did with us.
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: You know, He created us so differently and that’s what freedom really is. Having the freedom to embody different parts of your character, the feminine part of your character with its soft and tender and wants to be very patient and kind. But there’s also a different part of your feminine character, which means you can be very physically strong and capable. I have a… My niece is an elite athlete from University of Michigan. She’s very kind and sweet. And the freedom for the male is that I can be fully masculine and I can capitalize on my physical strengths, my tendency to wanna take a risk, to wanna drive fast, even though, you know, it’s not a smart thing, but I can embrace that. But I can also embrace another side of me that loves opera, that wants to, you know, take care of my wife, uh, you know, when she’s really sick, the tenderness. And that’s the beauty of the complexity of the human spirit and the human person.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: And I think that the damage we do with boys, in particular, is we try to put them in a lane, and we say, “This is your lane, and it cannot include traditionally masculine character qualities ’cause we don’t like them.”
Jim: Absolutely. You know, right now I’m thinking of the Good Samaritan things that are happening in the culture. And not long ago, we had that case in New York where that man took action against somebody who is threatening the lives of those on the subway. And, of course, there’s been the person that was set on fire. The context for my question is this, when the culture diminishes masculinity, you have fewer people willing to step up to right injustices because the cost becomes too high.
Dr. Meeker: We are less safe.
Jim: But it is evidence of exactly what you’re talking about. When we don’t encourage good men to take charge, to step up, to engage when there’s danger, you’re gonna have a lot of just passerbys.
Dr. Meeker: You know, we’re really willing to shred truth and get rid of truth in order to create a narrative we want. It fits our feelings.
Jim: Huh.
Dr. Meeker: You know, men don’t need to be strong. We don’t need them to help us on a subway because they’re really not any different from us. Which means then, if somebody steps up to get rid of a guy who’s harming you, that’s a bad thing. How twisted is that?
Jim: Yeah. Just to control the situation.
Dr. Meeker: Just to control the narrative that masculinity is a bad thing, therefore, it can’t be exercised even if someone’s life is at risk. That is so twisted.
Jim: Yeah. Listen, let’s move to number two. Uh, secret number two is understanding what our boys need.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: Now, explain that. What does that mean, knowing what they need?
Dr. Meeker: Well, they need a lot-
Jim: (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: … ’cause they’re very complicated people, just like women are complicated people. First of all, the discouragement to many dads out there with a four or five-year-old kid who falls down on the playground and starts to cry, and the dad comes up and just said, you know, “Just don’t act like a girl. Just, you don’t need to cry. Just sort of suck it up. Boy, men should not behave like this.” And then the mother comes in and criticizes the dad. Boys are emotional creatures. Boys, in large part, get their emotional language from their mothers, in general. Now, there’s some dads who teach it to their sons. And by that I mean before child is age seven, they learn cues from their mom about, is it okay to cry? I feel like I wanna cry, but dad’s looking at me like I’m a bad person if I do.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: No, it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to feel. It’s okay to, um, you know, feel very compassionate. So mothers need to learn that that’s part of their son’s life, is building a solid emotional life and feeling secure and good about it. So that’s a need that boys have usually comes from the mom. This emotional language. Then as boys get older, it’s all about dad. Because I often say a boy needs to learn how to be a man by watching a good man. He needs to see a man in action. Boys watch their fathers. So moms need to move out of the way, and it’s got all about dad in the teen years. Teach your son how to be a man who treats women well, who is not threatened by women, who is not threatened by being a strong man and exercising his ability to do well what his female counterpart can’t. And to be okay with that.
Jim: Yeah. You know, Meg, uh, our experience with our oldest, particularly, I mean, he, he, he was not a compliant child. (laughs) And so he had his decisions, and he knew where he wanted to go, I mean, pretty much right out of the womb, I’d say, and Trent was just that strong-minded. I can remember when we were doing foster care, we had the foster kids in, first, he was terrific with those kids. It was amazing. He became the big brother, and I was so proud of him. And he was kind of struggling at school a bit at that time. And I remember saying to Jean, you know, it’s pretty awesome, he gets an A plus for being a big brother to these foster kids. We need to recognize that-
John: Yeah.
Jim: … capability. And he really got into it. He just, his heart was for those kids. It was amazing. Um, but I remember specifically a time when he was no longer at the house. He had moved out and was going to college and still is. (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: But he came over for dinner, had a great meal that Jean had prepared, and he sent a text and said, “Mom, thank you so much for taking the time to make that great meal tonight.” And I remember looking at it, Jean came and showed it to me and I went, “Who is that?” (laughs)
John: (laughs)
Jim: But it was a, it was a moment that his maturity caught up. And I mean, it’s rare that he doesn’t send a note like that to Jean after coming over for dinner now. Very consistent-
Dr. Meeker: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … and very mature, very thankful. And I, I think it’s just encouragement to parents, uh, to allow their boy’s brain to catch up. Like the male brain matures like at 25 is what the research is showing. So you may need a little more grace for some boys because they may not always get it. But speak to that idea for the parent to be looking outward, ’cause we’re so in the moment.
Dr. Meeker: Yeah.
Jim: But, you know, when that child is 22, 23, 24, that boy, you’re gonna see some significant changes or you should in attitude.
Dr. Meeker: Absolutely. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had parents of a 15, 14-year-old boy-
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: … come in and say, “He won’t study. He won’t do anything. He’s so unmotivated. He just…” And I said, you know, “A, his story isn’t written. And the way he is at 14, it’s not gonna be the way he is at 15.” And I often tell parents, “Your job as a parent when your child is two or three or five is to raise a great 25-year-old.” So here’s the good news and the bad news. If your child is acting, you know, lazy at 15, and he doesn’t wanna be motivated, which is really common for boys at 15.
Jim: Typical.
Dr. Meeker: Here’s the good news, you have 10 more years-
Jim: (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: … to help him get it right. (laughs) And so you’re absolutely right. You know, maturity, physical maturity, a cognitive maturity, emotional maturity, those are critical, that’s a critical 10-year period.
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: So to really encourage parents, you know, whatever antics your, your son is up to at 15 or not up to, it’s gonna be completely different. You can have a… I remember my son went through a period, he just really didn’t wanna talk to me. It just broke my heart. What was I doing? I couldn’t… I, I tried to talk to him on emotionally a more deeper level. And he didn’t wanna do that.
Jim: (laughs)
Dr. Meeker: He just didn’t wanna do it. But I had to convince him-
Jim: That’s gross.
Dr. Meeker: … that he really should because I’m his mother, and I’m tender. And he pushed away, and my feelings were so hurt. Then I realized he’s a boy. Let him go. That’s a whole show unto itself.
Jim: Ooh, yeah.
Dr. Meeker: Let him go. Because he’ll circle back around-
Jim: Yeah.
Dr. Meeker: … and then he’ll write the notes. And for my son, it was sending tulips.
Jim: Oh, my. Yeah. And all the moms-
Dr. Meeker: Never got them from my daughters.
Jim: All the moms begin to cry.
Dr. Meeker: But he didn’t do it when, until he was in his, well into his 20s.
Jim: Yeah.
John: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Meeker: He wouldn’t talk to me at 15, sending tulips at 25.
Jim: But I think, Meg, the, the difficulty with that, I think particularly for moms, it is hard to think out 7 years, 10 years.
Dr. Meeker: Yes.
Jim: ‘Cause it… The emotions are right here in front of you. It’s so tangible. And you don’t think this caveman is ever gonna get-
John: (laughs)
Jim: … you know, mature. Like, how many times have you told them to say, “Please and thank you,” and it’s still not working, and they’re 15? And, you know, you get in this moment where you can’t imagine them being smarter, better, more thoughtful at 23, 24.
Dr. Meeker: Well, and you fit… And a mother panics. And dad’s probably, too. If they’re not doing it, and I’ve had them for 15 years under my roof, if he doesn’t get it now, he’s never gonna get it. That’s not true. You know, your son knows what you want. He knows you want him to say please and thank you, but for some reason that has nothing to do with you, he’s just not ready to do it. Let him be. And so I really wanna encourage parents, you have to think of the long game. At 15, at 10, even at 18, the his story isn’t written, and I’ve been doing this long enough. I’ve, I’ve worked with a whole generation of parents now, and now I’m seeing their kids. So I really can say this with a lot of honesty and sincerity. Let him be, his story isn’t written at 15.
Jim: Yeah. And then (laughs) boy, and then hang on.
Dr. Meeker: Hang on.
Jim: It’ll, it’ll get better. Trust us. (laughs) Meg, this has been so good. Let’s, uh, continue. We’ve really only covered three. And that third one we kinda did prior to number two, which is, you know, allowing your boys to be outside and be physical and do that outdoor stuff. Let’s pick up next time, uh, with the rest of the seven, and we’ll dive into those. Thank you for being with us.
Dr. Meeker: Oh, thank you. It’s so much fun.
Jim: Yeah. And I hope this has grabbed your imagination. Whether you’re the parent of a boy, or the grandparent of a young man, this is a resource that you need to get. And, uh, man, share it with those around you who are struggling. How many people at church do you see? And we saw, we just went to an amusement park and, man, the out-of-control kids. (laughs) I was like, I just wish I had a box of resources I could hand this book and other books out, too. But it’s, uh, always an opportunity to be a light in someone’s life and to do that with wisdom, obviously. But get a copy of Meg’s book, Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons. I think it addresses all the key issues of the culture today. And you can get that directly through Focus. Be a part of the ministry, helping parents, helping marriages, and saving babies. With a one-time gift of any amount, we’ll send you a copy of Meg’s book as our way of saying thank you for supporting the ministry and being a help to others.
Right now, when you give, your gift’s gonna be doubled thanks to some very generous friends of Focus on the Family who believe in the mission. You’ll be helping to provide HOPE and JOY to TWICE as many families, so let me say thank you for that gift!
John: Mm-hmm. Yeah, our number is 800, the letter A and the word FAMILY. 800-232-6459. Or we’ve got details, uh, for how you can donate and request resources, including this book, Boys Should Be Boys at FocusontheFamily.com/broadcast. And on behalf of the entire team, thanks for joining us today for part one of what is now a two-part conversation with Dr. Meg Meeker. Plan to join us next time as we continue the conversation and once again, help you and your family thrive in Christ.
