Not my usual...

You could pretty much ask anyone who’s ever known me – one of my favorite pastimes is reading. While I have read a lot of books in my lifetime, I mostly stay within the same genres. I love romance, chick lit, and mystery novels.

Last night, after dinner, the family and I went to Border’s. It’s not something we usually do, but the weather was cool, the Christmas decorations were out – it sounded like fun.

I spent most of the time with Nic in the children’s section as he tore apart the area, playing with anything he could get his hands on looked for a book for me to read to him.

After about 30 minutes, I was finally rescued; Alex and Isabel decided to keep an eye on the kid so I could walk around and see if there were any books out I had yet to read.

Not sure how it happened, but I ended up in the Parenting section; it was right next to the Baby section (which I generally avoid like the plague nowadays). I started to browse through the titles. There weren’t a ton of books that were age appropriate. Meaning, most of the books I saw were about parenting younger kids. I figured while I was there, I would check to see if they had anything related to teen-age boys. You know, books that deal with more than just raising boys – because, for sure, we already messed up on that part. He’s almost, pretty-much raised; we just need to get through the next, very important, few years. Strike that. I don’t want to get just through it. I want my son to be engaged, try new things, work hard at school, and head off to college.

Among the disheveled piles of books, I found a book that called to me. It was on the plain side; smaller than the rest. But it caught my attention. It was the only one there of its kind.

boys adrift

by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D.

The cover of the beak reads “The five factors driving the growing epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men.”

An epidemic.
That. Sounds. Scary.
I picked it up, intriqued.

Dr. Oz states that [this book is] “a must read for any parent of boys.” A must read? Then why wasn’t it given to me by the hospital staff 15 years ago? Besides the fact, it wasn’t yet published, of course.

I love my son – more than anything in this world. And I willing to do whatever it takes to guide him in the right most appropriate direction. That’s why I bought this book. I figured that if it could give me any insight or ideas on how to help him gain self-pride and motivation, then that would be a win for us.

The only other 'self-help' kind of books I've read dealt with personal finance. This one would be very new to me. But I will try anything once! ;D

Alex, for as long as I can remember, has been addicted to video games and computers. He has lacked pride in his school work, and the motivation to try new things. Him actually wanting to try out for football this past year surprised the Bee-Hey-Sus out of us. But we ran with it and we supported him, and then he lost interest in it, and we were sad. For the last few years, I’ve tried everything to get him to realize that high school is BIG STUFF. And that he WAS going to college – no doubt. Him entering high school happened faster than I could have imagined. Academically, I don’t know if he was ready. And that’s just one part of the problem.

There’s been threatening. Screaming. Crying.

And that was all from me.

He shrugs and says “I am doing my work now.” But he’s not.

He’s a funny, fun, and sweet kid. But how far will that get him in life?
The sands of time [relating to education, of course] are running out. How do I get him to make significant changes in such a short amount of time?
Currently, there’s no cell phone. No television. No going out.  And he doesn’t care.

I’ve had just a small chance to skim through the first chapter of boys adrift. I am hoping, as I sit down to really read through each passage, that something will jump out at me. To help or even to just give me hope.

I love that kid and I just want him to realize that the world is out there for him. That he can do anything or be anyone that he wants to be. That he’s not tied to this town or even this state. Marcos and I will support him in whatever he chooses. We just want him to be educated, and motivated, and excited.

That’s not too much to ask… Is it?