Parenting is hard. However boys can be an extra challenge. Let’s take a look at some of the fun and serious ways that parenting boys can be tougher than parenting girls.

1.  From birth, boys are interested movement. As they grow that tendency never goes away. Whether you have one son or 12 you know you have to keep both eyes on those boys are there will be breakage and probably blood.
2. Developmentally speaking communication skills for boys develop at a slower pace and it lasts sometimes through adulthood. There are physiological differences which make boys slower to communicate. However in some cases it is nature versus nurture. Typically boys are not encouraged to communicate in the same way girls are.
3. Boys are not cut out for the modern classroom. At three, four, or five years old boys are still interested in moving. Sitting still in preschool or kindergarten is of little interest to the boy who is eager to experience the world. As boys go through school they do pull ahead of girls in many subjects such as math or science however girls typically excel in language.
4. Everything is a competition when your boy. Result naturally inclined to want to run faster, jump higher and be louder than the next boy and especially than they were yesterday. They aren’t doing it to be obnoxious on purpose. It is part of how they test their place in the world. As natural as it is it can be a challenge for parents of multiple boys especially.
5. They are dirty and they smell! And they really like it. What’s worse is because of their physiological makeup they are not at all interested in eliminating the gross factor. Worms, smelly socks, farts, and mud make them happy. Some boys outgrow it. Other boys fill entire garages full to overflowing with gross things.
6. For the most part boys are harder to discipline than girls. Since girl brains develop faster than boy brains they are naturally more inclined to grasp the “don’t do that” concept. It does seem that boys rather enjoy doing things that are not supposed to do.
7. Boys take more risks than girls. Safety does not seem to be real high on their priority list. The more dangerous it is the more irresistible it is too little boys of all ages. Boys also appear to not mind, as well as not learned from, being injured.

Yes, this list is a little bit tongue-in-cheek… But just a little bit. Boys really are all of these things and to a mom harangued to within an inch of her sanity there are days she can only wonder what she did to deserve all of this. Then there are other days when she wouldn’t trade the madness of boys for the world. Dads, well we’re just happy to have an excuse to be little boys again because all that stuff is pretty cool.

However as your little boy enters his teen years sometimes all the fun parts can go a little sideways. If your son begins to struggle, the best thing you can do is a parent is to get him help as soon as possible. These innate traits which make boys challenging as children work against them to a greater degree when they become teenagers. Some boys just need extra help making the transition between mud pie and manhood. Moms and dads it may not feel like it right now but your all going to make it through just fine. You may need a little help along the way and that’s okay.