Guys and Dolls: The Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And on the earth lived men and women. And thus began the never ending question of how to treat each other. I'm not talking about kids or married folks, but rather from the teenage years on to however old a single man or woman is. It all applies the same, once they notice each other and once they become attracted to the weirdness of the opposite gender.

The first thing that must be done begins before your children become teenagers. Boys must be taught to respect women, and not just any age group of women. Girls need to be taught to not take advantage of a guy's respect for her, the girls must not tease the boys about being men. The girls must be taught to appreciate a boy who opens a door for her, or who lets her go first in line, or who includes her in games. Girls should not act 'independent' and force the guy to go first so that she can prove she can be as tough as the guys and wait behind other people in line.

The daughters must not seek boys' attentions. Their father is responsible for giving them the masculine love they need. If that man-love tank is full, she will not be driven to look for love elsewhere. Logically enough, this lack of father-daughter love in the modern family today is where the infectious boyfriend-girlfriend disease springs from. If the girls are guarded by their father's protective love, and if they respect their fathers, they will avoid the flirtatious show-offs.

The sons must not seek to attract the girls. This begins with the parents teaching the boys that boasting, bragging, or showing off to other boys or girls is arrogant pride. There is a difference between a boy being proud of some accomplishment and letting other people tell him he did a good job and being humble about it, and a boy who calls people to gather around him while he tells or shows his magnificant deeds and boasts that he's the best at it. There is also the boaster who doesn't call for attention but acts like he knows he is the best, like he is the coolest kid in school. The sons must seek to accomplish good, high goals, and when they do so to accept whatever praise but not to look for it. Then they must learn to quietly continue their hard work. If the mother and father praise their son and encourage him to keep up his toils, the son will seek to please them, and will not need the cheers of his peers.