Today I have a cute, but insightful video and a thoughtful article. The video is actually a recent UPS holiday commercial. The video is of a four year old boy, Carson, (apparently a true story) who required some special deliveries to his home 2-3 times each week. He becomes enamored with the UPS delivery guy and wants to be like him and do what he does. While the commercial intends to convey the message that UPS cares, it also illustrates the idea that boys have a deep fundamental longing for work, and that basic longing and desire ought to be encouraged and developed, not downplayed, distorted, or ignored.

The video makes a similar point to an article by Matt Whitling, Boys and Classical Christian Education. The article is from the most recent edition of the Classis Newsletter, a quarterly journal from the ACCS. Mr. Whitling, who has six boys and one daughter, provides some fascinating background to the swinging pendulum of gender issues in education (research shows that boys need this, that girls need that, that boys are short-changed, and that girls are short-changed, etc.) and then lays out a number of solid biblical principles for raising boys. The article most definitely runs against the grain of many modern sensitivities (so beware!), but I received it as a breath of fresh air -and I hope you do too!