5 Tips to Safely Raise Gentlemen with Work Ethic

Although kids are extremely cute when they are tiny, before you know it, they’ll be as tall as you are or realistically, even taller. Part of raising children is teaching them manners. And these apply to both girls and boys.

However at some point someone says “boys will be boys” when they act in a uncalled for manner. Why do boys get a free pass? If you are looking to raise well behaved respectful boys and girls, don’t just shrug and fall back on lazy excuses. Put in the effort and work to give your boys guidance and help in becoming healthy, confident adult men.

5 Key Traits of a Gentleman

So we’ve decided we don’t want our boys to grow to be lazy couch potatoes that don’t shower or take out the trash. But where do we start?

There are a few basic characteristics gentlemen have in common. Here are 5 of the most appreciated traits all humans that come in contact with your son will thank you for.

Respect

This takes many forms: Respect for peers, men and women, those weaker than you, things and life in general.

How can we encourage respect in our young boys? When they are playing destruction games and are about to trample your neighbours carefully arranged flowers, take immediate action.

Without anger, emphasize the time, effort, money, love and care invested in the beloved flora. Ask him how he would feel if someone trampled and broke his toys. These plants are their neighbours treasured “toys”.

Empathy & Kindness

This leads right into empathy. Teaching your boys to see an event from someone else perspective is life changing for them. This opens their mind and their world from all about them to noticing that there are others in this world and their feeling and experiences matter.

If you can understand the other person's opinion through empathy this automatically opens the door for kindness to make an appearance.

Good Manners

Hold the door open for others. Listen and don’t interrupt. Don’t bring your phone to the dinner table. There are many good manners that need to be absorbed in gentleman school and luckily most of these are perfect for you to model for your son. Kids learn by watching, particularly how their parents talk and behave.

Responsibility & Work Ethic

This is a big one. A gentleman cannot be a couch potato or push his responsibilities onto others. This is an opportunity for dad-son bonding and at the same time life lessons about work, reliability and dependability.

Dad, when your work boots need some TLC be sure to involve your boy and introduce him to the therapeutic maintenance ritual. Taking care of work boots is so many things and even when not spoken, sends a powerful message: You value and respect possessions, avoiding waste and frivolous spending.

When your son helps you care for your valuable work boots, he feels trusted and already responsible, just like his dad. This encourages teamwork and an attitude towards helping others, simultaneously improving interpersonal skills. You’re a great role model and influence dad!

So...

Raising boys is a big job but with the main caregivers in his life demonstrating the important values, he will absorb healthy, kind and responsible characteristics easily. He’s already well on his way to becoming a gentleman with a parent like you who takes the time to look up advice on instilling good values into their family.

BONUS: The discussed characteristics build confidence. Who wouldn’t get a confidence boost when they are appreciated for holding a door open, helping fix a neighbours front step or simply taking out the trash. You could say that gentlemanly behaviour leads to a happier life.