Decoding Boys: New Science Behind the Subtle Art of Raising Sons (Paperback)

When boys enter puberty, they tend to get quiet and parents often misread their signals. Here’s how to navigate their retreat and steer them through this confusing passage, by the bestselling author of The Care and Keeping of You series and Guy Stuff: The Body Book for Boys

What is my son doing behind his constantly closed door? What’s with his curt responses, impulsiveness, newfound obsession with gaming, and that funky smell? As a pediatrician and mother of two teenagers Cara Natterson explains, puberty starts in boys long before any visible signs appear, which causes confusion about their changing temperaments for boys and their parents alike.

Often, they also grow quieter as they grow taller, which leads to less parent-child communication. But, as Natterson warns, we respect their increasing “need” for privacy and alone time at their peril.

Explaining how modern culture mixes badly with male adolescent biology, she offers science, strategies, scripts, and tips for getting it right:

• Recognizing the first signs of puberty and talking to our sons about the wide range of “normal”.
• Why teenagers make irrational decisions and how to steer them toward better choices.
• Managing gaming, screen time, and how to discuss the unrealistic and dangerous nature of pornography.
• Why boys need emotional and physical contact with parents and how to give it in ways they’ll accept.
• How to prepare boys to resist both old and new social pressures drugs, alcohol, vaping, and sexting.
• Teaching consent and sensitivity in the #Metoo culture.

A powerful and validating lifeline, Decoding Boys will help today’s parents raise safe, healthy, resilient, and emotionally secure young men.