Chivalry #RaisingBoys



We were at Publix today, in the parking lot about to leave, and this boy and his mom were waiting to cross, a car stopped to allow them to walk and he nodded his head and put his hand out. He must have been maybe 17/18 years old. And for some reason I thought 'how nice of him to acknowledge the driver'. Nothing special happened and nothing extra ordinary, just a simple nod really. But it got me thinking about what it is like to raise boys, and how.
I can say that my boys do stuff like that. I don't recall every teaching them, they have always just opened doors or let kids or ladies go first. They do little things like nodding to acknowledge and using everyday manners. For being kids, for being boys, they have a huge amount of compassion in the. 
They are still young so I hope they don't grow out of that. 
We happened to be at the same Publix the week prior and I was with one of my boys and he walked off. We were in the parking lot so I was like "what is he doing". I look over to call him back and he was helping an older lady into her car. He had opened the door for her and was standing there waiting to close it. The husband was also with her but he was putting the few bags they had into the car. 

How do you raise them to do things like that...help others in crosswalks, acknowledge others when they do something, open doors, and all those other basic chivalry things that boys are supposed to do. 
Then I think, well what happens if all that doesn't matter because the girls that are being raised are raised ladies? My brain over thinks sometimes lol. I guess this is just one of those times. 

chiv·al·ry
ˈSHivəlrē/
noun
noun: chivalry     - courteous behavior, esp. that of a man toward women.

  • courteous behavior, esp. that of a man toward women.





Comments

  1. My son is 17 and does these things for others. He gives up his bus seat for elderly, disabled, women and women with kids! I am a very proud momma!

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  2. I think they learn from what they see us as parents do. That is why I try to think about those types of things and model behavior I would like my children exhibit. I'm no where near perfect, but I am polite.

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  3. I think that they learn from example. For that reason I try to model behavior I want them to exhibit. I am not perfect, but I am, at least, polite.

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  4. My Son Is The Same Way Thank God He Has Manners & A Heart Of Gold Thank You For Sharing!

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  5. My two oldest are grown and they are amazing with their manners. My oldest is married, and his wife is one lucky lady...that boy cleans, cooks, is hands-on and loving w/their daughter, changes diapers, and always treats the two of them like gold. It's nice. :)

    My youngest boy is very young (kindergarten) but he's on the right track already, and he's got great role models. :)

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  6. I have three sons - sadly they wouldn't all do that but at least two of them would. That is awesome.

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  7. This is definitely something we want to instill in our little guy. Sad to say I never really thought of it with my older boys (now 22 and 21). Of course, I was a single mom back then, trying to make ends meet and hardly had time for the children with working 2 jobs at times. Wish I had done more.

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  8. I love this post! My husband and I constantly talk about this! My husband naturally does these type of things and we want to make sure our little guy does too! I wrote a post about this, but we notice here in southern California a lot of people are so rude and unaware of things like this, which makes it hard, especially when trying to raise a child the right way, and with manners. Something as little as, he waves at someone trying to be nice (he's 16months old) and they'll just stare at him or ignore him. It's so sad!

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