0:00:00 – Speaker 1
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0:00:11 – Speaker 2
Welcome to nextTalk Radio with Mandy and Kim On AM 630, the word. Mandy is the author of Talk and Kim is the director of nextTalk, a non-profit organization helping parents’ cyber parent through open communication. Follow us on Facebook, instagram and Twitter. Find our free video series and subscribe to our weekly podcast at nextTalk.org. Are you ready for the nextTalk?
0:00:36 – Speaker 1
Today’s show is boys versus girls, not like fighting, not like who’s better or anything like that. Just how they’re so different and how raising them is so different. So we’re going to share some science and then we’re going to share a few strategies that have worked under our roof. When I say we, I’m excited to have my husband here, Charles on the show, because it’s always good to have your perspective.
0:00:59 – Speaker 3
I love being here.
0:01:00 – Speaker 1
Thank you for having me.
0:01:01 – Speaker 3
Yes, absolutely.
0:01:02 – Speaker 1
So in our family we had two boys first, and just a little background. I was raised by a single mom. I have two half brothers and a half sister, but we were never under the same roof. So it was me and my mom my whole life, and she was super passionate about her career and so there was not a lot of dating and she never remarried. So really, Yet.
Yet hey, you never know. So, matchcom, just kidding, but it’s one of those things. Men were really a mystery to me. I didn’t babysit boys, none of it. It was so shocking on the sonogram when they were like you’re going to have a boy, and I was like, yay, oh, my gosh. Now what Like a no clue. And I’m still kind of clueless some days, but I have you and you’ve walked me through it Right, because I am a boy. Because that’s what I’ve heard.
0:01:47 – Speaker 3
That’s true. And boys are different. Well, they still act like one most of the time. That is also true.
0:01:52 – Speaker 1
Boys first, and then we have a girl, and having the girl has highlighted even more how different raising boys and girls are.
0:01:59 – Speaker 3
Yeah, I think that’s. I mean you could read all the research you want. Yep, I mean you could be as nature versus nurture. You could be the biggest pro-feminist and say, nope, we’re like all the same. The gender norms are old fashioned. And then you have kids, and then you see how different they are from the get-go.
0:02:18 – Speaker 1
Yes.
0:02:18 – Speaker 3
Right from the get-go. So I was raised like I have two older sisters, an older step-brother, a younger half-sister, and when my dad remarried he remarried into this very large family. So I feel like I was always around kids, younger, older, so I got a chance to see really just how different all of that is and just like the responsibilities that kids naturally kind of take, the characteristics that boys and girls naturally gravitate towards. One of my favorite like I don’t understand boys stories comes from one of my older sisters who had a child before we did and we were, I think, brand new, early married, and my sister would call me and she had a boy and she was like I think there’s something wrong with my son.
0:02:58 – Speaker 2
I was like what do you mean?
0:03:00 – Speaker 3
There’s just something wrong. I think I need to go get them tested. And I was like, oh well, yeah, I mean, if you need to go, for what is it Like? What are you noticing? Well, he’s just so rambunctious, like he won’t listen. He’s just constantly like a daredevil. He’s driving me crazy, like I’m so worried he’s going to break something. I was like, oh yeah, that’s actually very normal. She’s like they can’t be normal. No, no, you don’t understand. Like he’s very different. And so I think, just coming from her and I you know, she forgets what it was like, I think maybe when I was little and she was much older than when she wasn’t thinking as a parent.
0:03:29 – Speaker 1
She was an older sister.
0:03:31 – Speaker 3
And so and I was like I tried to remind her of, you know, when I was a kid, like when I was young, I had one toy and it was BB. And BB was basically like this plastic B with wheels and that thing and I we went everywhere together and I took that thing off of ramps, I slid down hallways, downstairs, I mean I took, I mean I was like the baby version of evil conneval and when I got ahold of my sister’s Barbies, I turned their Winnebago into like an A-team, like commando, like tank. I cut all their hair off and I put, you know, camouflage paint on them and they’re like, what are you doing? And I’m like, what do you mean? The hair will grow back. They’re like, no, these are dolls, they’re all upset.
And I had to remind her about what it was like to, you know, to, for me to be a boy growing up. It was like very normal things for a boy, you know, and I think you know her having to connect with that is really important and I think it’s because it’s so different than the way girls are naturally, you know, just the way that girls naturally go through life, the way that girls, you know, even if you just see them, like growing up as little kids. It’s so different and so I guess you could say alien right For moms to kind of see boys. It’s so true it is. It’s like aliens, you’re like what is happening.
0:04:41 – Speaker 1
Well, and then you know, on the other side of that you have little girls and because I wasn’t around kids, I kind of did my own thing. You know, I was really into Barbies and I was really into girly things, but my mom was really girly and I was kind of tomboyish and so I was kind of in the middle of that and not really getting to observe it on either side. And so when I had kids, I was really clueless as to what was quote unquote, quote normal. And I think the thing about this that is important to us here at nextTalk is that there’s those things that happen Like boys are a certain way when they’re born and they’re, you know, they tend to be a certain way and girls tend to be a certain way.
But sometimes those norms, we fall into the trap of thinking that that is all that they need. We only need to speak into them in the way that they behave, and so if they’re really active and they’re more like boys and they’re rough and stuff that they don’t have a sensitive side, we don’t need to talk to them as much, because they don’t care about that, they don’t get hurt or feel emotional or scared or anxious about things because they’re boys and that girls don’t need to be challenged or pushed further or sometimes held accountable for their emotions or their activity, because they’re sensitive and they’re gentle creatures and we don’t want to put them in that box or make them feel uncomfortable, and so that’s kind of what we want to explore today. The difference between raising boys and girls and some of the science behind it is so interesting.
0:06:00 – Speaker 3
Yeah, and I think you know just the brain alone, like the biological differences in the brain, I think, is what a lot of the science out there will kind of tell us about, like just initially. You know again, like when we talk about differences in boys and girls, we’re obviously we’re talking about, you know, generalizations, yes, absolutely.
So, every kid’s gonna be different and there’s no better or worse. You know, when we talk about differences between boys and girls, and of course everybody’s gonna be on a different scale, you might have a son who gravitates towards dolls instead of trucks, or you might have a daughter who just loves playing, you know ball and and is a little rough too. There’s nothing wrong with that, there’s not one that’s better than the other.
But if you’re out there and if you’re like a mom and you’re struggling with having to raise like a young boy, or if you’re a dad and you have a hard time understanding your daughter and why she’s crying all the time and that you cannot connect with her, you know there’s some, there’s some good science that’s out there that I think will help parents and Dealing with these differences and that it’s like okay, this is normal, this is okay.
I’m gonna help. I’m gonna be able, now that I know this, I’m gonna be able to parent a little differently with than that.
0:07:01 – Speaker 1
I think it helps to understand the whole. The first of all is about gray matter and the brain for a boy and versus a girl.
0:07:07 – Speaker 3
Yeah, so when they do like brain scans on kids, right, I mean there’s like gray matter and then there’s like white matter. So the gray matter are like these, like pockets of activity.
They’re very like much more prevalent in boys brains than there are in girls, so like if you have a boy who is Like playing a video game, for instance, and is like so like immersed in the game and they do not hear their name being called there, like the building could be on fire.
There is like, I mean, no joke, like there’s so many other distractions going on and they don’t Acknowledge that it’s because there’s these pockets of the brain, these gray matter parts of the brain, where that’s where boys tend to gravitate towards and they can get lost in these little you know Dimensions. That’s sometimes. That could be good. You know, men tend to be much more singular, focused anyway. So, like, when we have like a task to do, and in boys we might think like, oh, they can never get rid of that video game, yeah, but when they grow up and there’s like a task, they will be Unyielding in finding a solution. Or if there’s something that needs to get done, they will not hesitate to go through all the options to make sure that that task is complete for their family.
So that’s one of the reasons why you might be having a hard time, like you’re yelling at your son over and over and over again To come to the table for dinner when there’s something going on that he’s into you know that I love that Science.
0:08:17 – Speaker 1
that science helped me so much that, along with a good mentor friend who had boys before I did, and I was like I Am telling my son over and over to do something or to come here or whatever, and I swear he doesn’t hear me or he’s ignoring me. That’s what I would say he’s ignoring. Why does he ignore me? Why does he need to do what I want him to do? And she very sweetly and calmly said well, you need to talk to boys differently than you talk to girls.
0:08:44 – Speaker 2
I was like what do you mean?
0:08:45 – Speaker 1
I’m just communicating and she said you need to get down on his level, you need to make sure you have eye contact and you need to say his name and you need to wait for him to acknowledge that he’s actually tuned in and ready to hear what you’re saying. And I’m like what do you mean? She’s like he is able to tune you out and is not on purpose. It’s that gray matter.
He is fixated on something, and so she’s like Sometimes you’ll need to say his name like five times, like get down there and say you know, john, john, john, and until he says oh, yes, yes, mom, yes, do you hear me? Yes, I hear you. That’s when you give them a command or a direction or ask them to do something, and they’re not trying to be rude or they’re not Trying to be difficult. They really live in a different space in their brain, right, and that has helped me tremendously.
0:09:30 – Speaker 3
That’s why you have to turn off the TV to talk to them. You do, I’m always like whatever you got to do boys, press pause.
0:09:35 – Speaker 1
I say that all the time. Press pause. No, you got to turn it off. There is no pressing. They still focus, they’re still looking at the screen.
0:09:44 – Speaker 2
They’re still, you know. I mean you need to remove Whatever they’re in.
0:09:47 – Speaker 3
You need to remove them from that environment. Yeah and actually to get them to focus. That’s just where we are.
0:09:53 – Speaker 1
That they’re ready to hear. You don’t just start talking to say say their name and make sure their eyes are on you. Right, and you, I’m telling you, your frustration levels will go down because you will finally start to know how they hear you.
0:10:05 – Speaker 3
There is. There’s also, like the, the four major chemicals or hormones in the brain. We all I mean boys and girls have the same chemicals. They’re just they have varying degrees or percentages Of them. Of course, we know the major ones the testosterone and estrogen. I don’t know if moms know how strong testosterone is, because it can be scary because it is the aggression hormone and aggression Is is a very scary hormone.
When we kind of see that, when we see tantrums and we see or we even see, like you know, older kids like get so upset and the aggression just takes over, it’s like looking at another child, it is Right, it’s like that’s not my kid, right, Because the testosterone is such a higher level in boys than it is in girls. So that’s something of course you know, that’s been out there, a lot of people know that. But you know the serotonin levels are kind of. You know serotonin is sort of like that feel good you know kind of like easy going chemical.
Boys have less of that right Boys have less of that than girls do Oxytocin, which is like that bonding hormone. You know girls have a lot more of that naturally in their brain than boys. So what does that mean? I think what they’re trying to say? A lot of the research suggests that boys will be naturally more aggressive, but they’ll also have a harder time settling down Because we don’t have like that serotonin, we don’t have that ability to just like to calm ourselves. We’ll be naturally more fidgety. You know, that’s the. You know I’m not saying like that’s all the cases in preschool and elementary school. Is that the boy who needs to or the student who needs to get up and walk around?
is probably gonna be the male student right, and so that’s just. If you’re parenting, you’re wondering like, why won’t my kid sit still? You know, we go out to dinner. The kid needs to like why can’t he just be on his iPad? Why can’t he just have a coloring book? You know you go to Olive Garden, they give you the three colors and the you know the little-.
0:11:48 – Speaker 1
The drawing packet.
0:11:49 – Speaker 3
Yeah, the drawing packet of the Placemat. That’s not good for boys, you know, it might be, but I mean that wears out pretty quickly, you know, and a lot of that is just because, hey, we’re just different, right, and so I think that’s important to kind of like kind of keep in mind as you kind of go through this parenting process of these little guys.
0:12:05 – Speaker 1
It’s so, true? And then so girls, on the other side of that, with the white matter in their brain, they’re very different the way that they perceive things and the way that they act, because their brain is different also.
0:12:19 – Speaker 3
Yeah, I think it’s just phenomenal, like how girls at such an early age are able to verbalize feelings.
0:12:26 – Speaker 1
That’s amazing.
0:12:27 – Speaker 3
How was my daughter able to tell me how she’s feeling and tell her brothers that when you did this, you made me feel sad and I don’t like that. Could you please stop? I’m like. Who is this Like? Who taught her that?
0:12:38 – Speaker 1
A great example of that. We were on a vacation and we actually saw someone being arrested like tackled down to the ground, great story, arrested in public. I mean it was like shocking, cause we don’t really see that. It was quite an event. It was quite a whole thing. My boys are like yeah, bad boys, bad boys.
What you gonna do what you gonna do. You know they’re like that is amazing. They caught the bad guy and it’s we’re safe. And they just thought it was like amazing. Moment my daughter starts tearing up and she’s like, oh no, this is so sad. He’s gonna go to jail. And what’s gonna happen to his family? I bet his mom’s gonna be so sad. She was just turned three at the time. His mom’s gonna be sad. What do you think? He has brothers and sisters and they’re gonna miss him. And what about the rest of his life? Is he ever gonna get out of jail? Will he have a job? She was like we’re all like, oh, my goodness, this is a perfect example.
0:13:29 – Speaker 3
It was amazing, yes, it really was, because that’s something that I didn’t even think about. Yeah, as an adult, as an adult male, I’m just like that dude’s going down you don’t mess with the 50 in this town and my daughter’s in the back going. Oh my gosh, he’s going away from his family.
0:13:45 – Speaker 2
I know.
0:13:46 – Speaker 3
Even when we joke. I love the fact that my daughter now, who’s still three, just says things like don’t worry, dad, I’m just being sarcastic.
0:13:53 – Speaker 1
Yes.
0:13:54 – Speaker 3
Her new words are sarcastic she doesn’t want my feelings to be hurt when we joke around. She wants to like after she tells a joke, she’s like saying dad, hey, just so, you know like I was joking, okay, you’re all right with this, she’s just so, and much more of a caring like. So she just. I think women in general girls, even from an early age, are much more in tune with emotions, much more in tune with their senses, and they also have a higher capacity for memory, and so girls tend to like remember more and they also can connect emotions and senses to that memory a lot better. So, boys, if you have boys and you’re trying to like ask them do you remember this or do you remember that? A lot of times they’re just like wow, I don’t really remember.
0:14:33 – Speaker 1
That happens all the time with direction, direction. Yeah, don’t do that. I told you not to do that, don’t you remember? No, I don’t remember. I don’t remember that.
0:14:40 – Speaker 3
Yeah, right, but if you could connect it to an activity, they might actually do you? Remember the time we did this Right and they might be like oh right, right, right, yeah, okay, I do remember that that’s a really, really big part of just being like, I think, a boy in general.
0:14:54 – Speaker 1
Thanks for joining us on nextTalk Radio. If you’re just now tuning in, this is nextTalk Radio at 2 pm on AM 630,. The word nextTalk Radio is listener supported. Everything we do at our nonprofit to keep kids safe online is accomplished through donations To support our organization. Go to nextTalk.org and click on give. Today we’re talking about raising boys versus girls. The difference in that because of, yes, the science behind it, and their brains are different. Even the way they hear things is different. There is science that makes parenting important. I should say there is science that will help you, as a parent, to parent in a better way. That’s more effective for boys versus girls.
0:15:33 – Speaker 3
There’s a part of the brain this is one of the things I learned as a teacher is just growing up in that this is, like you know, big, big news right that the prefrontal cortex does not completely form until like 25.
0:15:44 – Speaker 1
Yeah, we talk about this all the time. You know, next time it is just.
0:15:47 – Speaker 3
It is amazing. And then, before that, though, the part of the brain that sort of like does all the decision making is more based on emotion, right, and that’s for boys and girls, but the prefrontal cortex, like the major decision making part of the brain in adults doesn’t, it’s not really there when they’re younger, right, and that’s that’s huge. Yeah, it is. I mean, that’s they talk about. You know that. This is where they learn, like social norms, that’s where they learn you know future consequences of present actions, which is what I love when parents ask like what were?
you thinking when you decided and the answer is they weren’t thinking. They the idea that they actually thought ahead, like had future consequences in mind when they were doing a present activity, is not present. It’s not there, you know, and so when they look at you with that, I don’t know what you’re asking me. It’s because they don’t know what you’re at.
They’re not trying to be difficult, no they’re not and they really weren’t thinking of it. All they’re thinking about how cool is it gonna be. When I jumped my bike off of this ramp, they weren’t thinking about where their bike was gonna land, and that’s so important, cause, like when you’re talking like especially boys, like let them build the ramp. You know, let them take their bike off a ramp. However, let’s let’s also have a conversation, like, as you’re building the ramp, like what are some potential consequences here?
And then how can we handle it? Cause I guarantee you those boys would be like you know, I never thought about that. Let’s build a pit for, like you know, foam, or let’s have something over here so that when we land, you know, or let’s make sure that the ramp doesn’t end up facing a tree, so that we actually land, on a road or dirt or something like that, you know, and so they don’t think about that when they’re building the ramp right.
All they think about is the ramp and the amount of air that we’re gonna get.
So how cool it’s gonna look, how cool it’s gonna look, and that sort of thing. So that’s important, I think. Parenting pieces like yeah, let them have that fun, you know, let them go through those, those those crazy like wow, your prefrontal cortex is nowhere near completion and it’s just kind of interesting to kind of see that happen but to kind of walk them through and to continue to have those conversations, because being reminded of consequences, I think, is just a part. As an adult, I think we forget, cause we’re always thinking about that, you know, but kids are never thinking about that so true.
You know, and then teen years, it kind of starts settling in. I’ll be honest with you, it happens sooner in girls than it does in boys. So for boys the prefrontal cortex is not gonna form until much later and that’s why you’ll still have very young men. You know, let’s look at like our military. That’s predominantly male driven.
They’re not thinking about future consequences. They’re like, yeah, we’re gonna put you on the front lines, we’re putting you in harm’s way, but we’re gonna have you do this. A lot of them are like, well, yeah, let’s do it, I’m serving my country, I’m doing a great thing. They’re like, yeah, you are doing a great thing. A lot of females are like, yeah, but that’s a very dangerous activity. Like the future consequence of this, like I might get shot.
I could be harmed. Boys, on the other hand, not really thinking that they’re just thinking about the adventure side of it, like the honor side, the bravery all the other things that go along with it.
0:18:38 – Speaker 1
And so I’m glad that we’re able to establish, you know, how different the boys and girls are. And then I wanna kind of flip the switch on how we parent the other side of their personalities, the side that is not so natural and obvious. So, like with our boys, you know, I fell kind of into that trap of just thinking about the things that are obvious that we’ve been talking about are not even so obvious, but the science behind it, and you know, boys are rough, boys love to do crazy things, they’re prefrontal, all of that stuff. That is true, and we have to parent that side of it. But do boys also feel sad and do they feel embarrassed and do they feel anxiety and shame and all of those things? Am I ignoring that Because I’m focusing so much on the boy stuff? And how do I walk my son through being able to process those emotions in a healthy way and feel like that it’s okay to have those emotions?
0:19:30 – Speaker 3
Yeah, I think what you just said just now walking through the process of handling emotions that is so important for boys, because we’re innately not geared that way. I mean, we’re still gonna have the emotions and we still need to process them effectively, but we need to be walked through them, you know, and I think that’s a really, really important part, because boys are gonna kick, we’re gonna scream we’re gonna, and, in fact, a lot of times well, not even that, but boys will do something completely different.
right after a huge, let’s say, a boy has like a huge emotional outburst and then they’re crying, they’re angry and the next thing you know, like the tears are gone. They jumped on their bike and they just did something completely different.
0:20:07 – Speaker 1
Yes, that’s so true.
0:20:08 – Speaker 3
And that is a very common thing I think that boys will do. And a lot of parents are left going. Well, I guess it’s okay then. Yes so they’re not crying anymore. Yes, you know, but that’s just our way, boys and men in general, that’s just our way. Like we can easily, like you know, it’s a great solution for me. I’m gonna think of something completely different, yeah and not deal with it and not deal with it right.
And so it’s effective. But I wouldn’t say that it’s probably the best, because then we end up avoiding those emotions and avoiding those things and then later on down the line they become adult men, they don’t know how to deal with certain stuff right.
0:20:36 – Speaker 1
Yes, I find with my boys or our boys they’re not just mine, I guess I find with our boys that that’s exactly what happens. They’ll be like an emotional outburst and then it like shuts off and they’ll wanna go do something different. And in the emotional outburst is not the time. I have learned that the hard way to be like how are you feeling? Is this making you sad, like they just need to get it out and they need to go and do that other thing for a minute. If I circle back around later that night or even the next morning and say, man, that was a rough day or that was a rough minute and it needs to be one on one in a time when they’re kind of in a relaxed moment, I’ll say how did that make you feel? It’s those open-ended questions. How did you feel in that moment? What was going on?
0:21:16 – Speaker 3
What upset you, and I think, as a mom, it’s important for you to know that their recollection of it will not be 100% accurate. It might not even be 50%. Yeah, because the memory thing, Because of the memory thing, and because we tend to and especially emotional memories, so we do not tend to like wanna tie those memories to a certain emotion especially an undesirable emotion. Yes, so true, and so I think it’s important to kind of remind them, but don’t get them so reminiscent that it’s gonna stir up some of those bad emotions again.
0:21:46 – Speaker 1
That’s true. What has been helpful is, well, I’ll ask a couple of open-ended questions and they’ll say, oh yeah, no, that was not cool and this is what I was upset about, or whatever. I’m like, hey, is there something I can do to help? Can we change whatever the environment is, or whatever for next time. And that’s usually the best way that I can get them to talk about better ways to handle it. The next time Is just asking a lot of open-ended questions, and usually they’re like, yeah, I didn’t handle that well or it really made me sad and I don’t wanna be in that situation again. And so we’ve had some really good conversations. After the fact, not so many in the moment.
0:22:19 – Speaker 3
Well and I think this is important for everybody out there to really hear is that this needs to happen all the time. All the time, every single time, almost like on a daily basis.
0:22:28 – Speaker 1
That’s so true.
0:22:29 – Speaker 3
And I think that’s kind of well. It just means that we have more work to do as parents, but at the same time, I think it’s important that we understand that kids are constantly learning and that we need to remind our kids whether you have five and six year olds all the way up to teenagers that remind them that there is a good way of kind of dealing with these things, that your emotions are normal and that I’m here for you. We need to talk these things out and then also provide them.
0:22:54 – Speaker 2
Healthy alternatives right.
0:22:55 – Speaker 3
The correct. Maybe I say the correct way, but, like you say, A better option. A better option than dealing with that.
0:23:00 – Speaker 1
I know with girls we’re newer on the scene for that because our daughter is young, but, like we said from day one, it’s so different and you are raised around sisters and one thing that I’ve realized and again some good mentors and from you also they are so emotional at times and it’s so over the top that they also need a healthy outlet and a way to switch from the emotional reaction to okay. How can we move forward from this? How can we step out of the emotions and find a solution when it’s time Not right, when they lose their minds when they’re crying or when the outfit’s not right? Cause that was surprising to me, like how emotional everything is for little girls. I don’t remember that Again, the memory at 40 goes.
0:23:43 – Speaker 3
So I mean, you don’t remember how you were like when you were three. I don’t remember how I was when I was three, and so I was surprised.
0:23:48 – Speaker 1
as you know, she was like crying over every little thing. I was like something’s wrong with her. Just like you know with boys, I was like something’s wrong with her. She’s so emotional and my friend says no, no, that’s little girls. And you’ve got to walk her through talking through those emotions, but then finding a healthy outlet again, like, okay, it’s okay to be sad about that, but how can we fix it once we’ve let it out? And that’s hard, it’s different.
0:24:14 – Speaker 3
She’s just so adorable. I’m like I’m probably the worst. You’re the worst, just daddy’s little girl right there I am like I just, I’m like, whatever you want to do, you just let’s talk to her I just wanna snuggle. I was like let’s snuggle and talk.
0:24:26 – Speaker 1
And I was never like that with my boys Never. But it’s so important Cause the boys like to do that too. Our boys like to snuggle and talk with daddy and mommy too, and so we cannot forget that we do more of that now with the girl, I think and then they saw like that was an option.
0:24:38 – Speaker 3
They were like, wait, we can snuggle and talk.
0:24:39 – Speaker 1
We can do that still, yes, I didn’t know that we could do that.
0:24:42 – Speaker 3
I was like, well, let’s all join in. What do you guys wanna snuggle and talk about? And so now the boys ask for it because they saw it in their little sister. They saw her naturally go that way and they saw a benefit and they’re like, wow, this really is kind of nice, you know, and, like I said, like it’s not a natural thing for boys to do it, so we have to kind of remind them of those kind of things and we have to model that, again, when they’re ready to go there, then we have to be ready to go there with them.
0:25:05 – Speaker 1
That’s so true. And one last thing I wanted to say about girls is challenge them. A lot of times we think like, oh, they’re emotional and oh, they’re sweet and gentle and whatever. Girls need to be challenged the way we challenge boys to and introduce them to new things. It’s okay for girls to get dirty and it’s okay for them to ride the BMX bike or whatever it is. Let them know it’s okay to explore that side of their personality too and let’s not box them into like the girl box that we tend to do just cause they’re emotional.
0:25:33 – Speaker 2
All right, absolutely, of course. Thanks for joining us on nextTalk Radio with Mandy and Kim on AM 630, the Word. You are not alone trying to figure out how to parent in this digital world. We are here with practical solutions to help you. Follow us on Facebook, instagram and Twitter. Find our free video series and podcast at nextTalk.org. Are you ready for the nextTalk?
Transcribed by https://podium.page
