Thank you for downloading the Focus on the Family Parenting Podcast. You can find more helpful advice at focus on the family.com

slash parenting podcast. I'm John Fuller along with Danny Werta.

Danny is a family counselor and head of the parenting department here

at Focus on the Family and Danny.

From your observations, your counseling and all that you've experienced,

what would you say is the biggest

surprise most moms face with regard to raising a boy? I think there are a few that

I've heard over the years. The first one, those first early years, are the physical

curiosity, how physical boys can be and how curious and how tiring that can be at the

beginning. That is a big surprise to the first-time moms. Later on, it's the fact that boys have that secret desire

for genuine encouraging words and physical affection

from their moms.

They do long for that, even though they don't admit it. And that's a

surprise to some moms that 17, 16, 18 year olds still appreciate those notes but

also a big hug from mom.

Well let's go ahead and hear more now about this topic from parenting expert Dr Kevin Lehman

as he talks with Focus President Jim Daly.

How do you advise a mom to expect the best of their boys?

Because some moms can be, like you were saying earlier, pretty demanding and there isn't

a reality check to that.

The best is such a high standard and when that boy

who is distracted and being a boy doesn't meet that measure, how does a mom deal

...