3 Things your son must know...

Author Robert Lewis says there are three things your son must know before he leaves home - that you love him, that you're proud of him and that he's good at something. I began to think about this and wonder if he could be successful with just these three things.
The importance of my son knowing his father loves him very much will serve him well if he is ever in a situation where he needs help of any kind. If he is pressured by others to start getting in trouble, if his grades are to slip and he needs to come home, he will know his family is there for him and love him. Knowing that he is loved unconditionally will give him the courage to stand on his own and not to follow others.
Having the assurance that your father is proud of you is priceless. Above the love and affection, its almost more important to let our kids know just how proud of them that we really are. We should be our children's biggest cheerleader. We should let them know at every opportunity that they have exceeded our expectations and that we know there are more great things to come in the future.
Finally they need to know that they are good at something. That something can be a sport, such as basketball or tennis. It can also be something as simple as making up their bed. But the key is to let them know that we think that they have a real skill at something. This builds lasting self confidence in a child. To this day I still remember my grandmother after watching a pickup basketball game I was playing in say to me "You are pretty good at that game." That's all it took to have my confidence soaring.
These three things are not hard to show our sons before they leave home. If we are able to show them these three things they should be well equipped to go out into the world and become outstanding citizens of our society.