Good thought for Raising Boys

I read an article this morning with some great thoughts on educating boys, and the meaning of masculinity. I realized that some things we are doing well in our family, but some things could be tweaked. I was really struck by the thought that many of the things we do to encourage masculinity are big theme events where we drum up the idea of fighting the dragon and rescuing the princess. Although it is important for boys to know this, it's also not something boys are realistically going to do everyday. So what does it mean to be masculine when there aren't any dragons around (even metaphorical ones)? A good warrior begins with disciplined routines of small beginnings - a good farmer, a good tradesman, a good husband or father, a good son. Here's a quote from the article that illustrates this:

 "The masculine spirit, the thumos, is developed by habituation in the routine...the small things...everyday chores...work. You can’t effectively swing a sword if you haven’t been swinging the sickle. We would never put a man on the battlefield that hasn’t endured a routine of discipline first. We should be connecting the dots for young men between their lofty views of manhood and the small things they encounter everyday: chores, lawn mowing, homework, picking up trash at school when they see it...not romantic in the least but highly effective in building masculine habits of the soul. The boys must understand that if you are not building these habits in the small things, they won’t be there in the big events." - James Daniels

Here's a link to the full article: http://mag.circeinstitute.org/7_whatarewedoingtoourboys.html