Raising Boys

I am so glad to hear you are thinking about this.  I did as well when my son was born, and continue to do so now that he and his younger sister are teenagers.  It's hard!  I think of it more as being a whole and complete person than boy trait / girl trait.  That said, my kids tend to fall along typical gender expressions even with a gender/culture conscience upbringing. 

The essence of your question seems rooted in how to help children be aware and communicative of their emotions.  I started early through literature - books, books, and more books.  Both my kids are highly verbal.  Books were a launching point, from a very young age, as soon as they could sit on my lap and follow the story.  I chose lots of books that dealt simply with feelings, such as "Glad Monster, Sad Monster" by Ed Emberly.  As they got older, the books became more sophisticated, as did our discussion of them.  Before long, we were disecting "The Hunger Games".  As they have gotten older, books have provided a safe ground to discuss tough topics, including emotions and human interactions.  We can always frame an issue they are experiencing with something we've read, now not only in literature, but also online or in the paper.  Interestingly, girls flock to my son because he talks more than most boys about things that matter (a bit of a challenge actually).

Of course, the face to face human interactions are what really matter, and modeling emotional awareness and expressiveness is the best thing you can do.  But to support that, books have been great for my family.

You might also check out Michael Gurian's books, particularly "The Wonder of Boys" and "The Wonder of Girls" (even thought you don't have a girls).  While I don't agree with everything he writes, his writing is thought provoking.

If you want your sons to be emotionally expressive and communicative, you have to be emotionally expressive and communicative. Put a chart on the refrigerator. Use it to talk about how you feel. Ask your kids how they feel. Here is one example of an Emotion Chart:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/386746686732520426/

Well, first of all, I'm a mom, so I hope you don't mind me answering :)

I think it is so great that you are asking this question. I am the parent of a 26 year old man and a 21 year old woman. I worked really hard to raise my son to be emotionally courageous, as you put it. Great term. I think I succeeded! Just one small success along the way; he was the only boy in his babysitting class around age 12 and did babysit regularly and is great with kids. I am confident that he is prepared to be a dad, if he chooses to do that. I didn't push the class on him at all. I think he brought up wanting to earn money and it emerged that way.

Here are some of the things I did. When he was really little, I censored the books I read him and edited as I read. For example I remember a line in a Curious George book about a "pretty nurse" that I changed to a "smart nurse." Then, as he got older, I started discussing with him my impressions of our society and encouraging his critique. "Why do you think the dad in the movie did that?" "What is that ad telling us?" etc. While of course this is broader than emotions, I think the only way to counter the stereotypes out there is to name them.

I think the book "How to Listen so Kids will talk and talk so kids will listen" has really good advice about validating kids' feelings. 6 Seconds also has some good resources on emotional intelligence: http://www.6seconds.org/parenting/

I also have to share with you one of my parenting fails. When my son was 5, his favorite color was pink, and I remember buying him a sweatshirt with a pink zipper pull. Later I realized, "Why didn't I just buy him a pink sweatshirt?" I share this with you just to say, that as conscious as we try to be, we are also trapped in the same stereotypes! We have to do the best we can and forgive ourselves for our blunders.

I have been thinking about this a lot!  I am mom to an only child -- an eight year-old boy.  I was a tomboy growing up, but still my world was all about make-believe and words.  My son loves math and engineering and games/sports to a degree that I find fascinating.  I have been grateful that raising a son has involved a lot less drama than I remember from my childhood friendships and also judging on what I often see with my friends who have girls (although personality means more than gender in this area).  I see, however, that generally leadership means so much to boys and they are quick to fall into a pack around an "alpha-pup."  My son used to take his turn being alpha, but he has entered into a few situations lately (new school class, church) where there are other boys a bit older, bigger, and already the alpha.  My son's confidence in his leadership abilities is becoming battered.  I've been mulling over how to help without helicoptering.  Just talking openly about those relationships seems to really help -- telling him what I notice, asking him if he thinks it is accurate, then simply listening before brainstorming some solutions.  And I'm looking for situations where he can blaze his own trail rather than just lead/follow.  I've also found a couple of books -- The Wonder of Boys (Gurian) and Raising Cain (Kindlon...also a documentary) that I am beginning to read.  Aside from the leadership piece, I've been working to help my son develop empathy (mostly by reading books and discussion books/life).  I also know a lot of men (admittedly usually the older generation) who don't know how to build a nurturing and worthwhile network of friends, and I feel it crucial that my only-child learn to do that. We talk a lot about relationships and I make sure to model healthy ones with my husband (his father), our extended family, and my friends.  We work on making eye contact and having conversations.  Last, but probably not least, I let him lead me into what interests him.  His very "boyness" is interesting and valuable, and I want him to know that.  Thanks for posting your question!  I look forward to seeing more responses.

As a mother who has successfully raised four boys and a daughter who have all graduated from college and now, in their 30s and one who recently turned 40, are all creative, kind, motivated, and productive adults, I say to you PLEASE let your boys just become themselves and not a part of your neurosis! Let them be, play, get dirty, laugh! Teach them not to hurt others or themselves. Let them explore but set boundaries. Say no! but also encourage and praise. Make your expectations clear and stick to them, reinforce them in casual ways and sometimes harsh ways. They will get it! If you'd like to know how my method of raising children worked out, I'd love to tell you. I am beyond proud and you will be impressed. 

I think it's great that you are thinking about this topic. As a girl growing up in the 80's I was exposed to dance/ballet class. I went to cheerleading camp and drama camp. I did art and jewelry making. And, just as much, I played sports and played with science kits. I loved animals. I played with my friends. I loved watching Star Trek with my dad. I went through a phase where I only wore dresses. I went through a phase where I only wore pants. I went to college for engineering, never, ever feeling aware that at one point in time, my gender might have limited my opportunities for education and careers. My point being, my dad made sure I knew that I could do anything that interested me, and supported any interest I had, even if it went against his values. Looking back, I'm actually fairly surprised that my dad ever agreed to let me try cheerleading as I do remember him saying, "Girls should be on the field, not on the sidelines cheering for the boys." So, with that said, my dad definitely had opinions about gender roles and his hopes and dreams for his daughters. As a result, I grew up feeling very loved and felt safe to try new things. I grew up knowing that I could do whatever I wanted, and I would always have him there cheerleading (And, ironically, my dad was definitely my biggest cheerleader in life). With that said, I also grew up to not always conform to society's expectations. I never fantasized about my wedding day, and still haven't gotten married. I adore being a parent, but I would have been content with my life had I not had children. People don't always understand me, because I don't always fit into gender stereotypes. I share that because I think you have great intentions in your parenting and I wanted you to know the full range of outcomes. I don't think I was as intentional about my parenting goals when raising my son. He was all boy, as they say. Loved balls and sports and trucks and trains. And, I embraced all of his passions. I always told him I loved him and I hugged him a lot. I helped him learn about feelings. Today, as a teenager, when saying bye to me when he is with his friends, he will initiate saying, "I love you." He hugs me me hello and asks me how my day was. He is a caring friend. He is articulate with his feelings. In retrospect, I think it's less about gender and more about our relationship. My advice to you would be to role model for your sons the behavior you want them to emulate. Show them you love them unconditionally. Take interest in the things that interest them - even if you don't like it, and be physically affectionate with them.

As the mom of a son, I've been reading two books -- Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys and Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood. It sounds like you already have some of the basic concepts from these books, but if you haven't seen them yet, you might find something useful there.