My son is a mama’s boy, I confess. Even at age 4, he often curls up on my lap during play dates while the other kids rampage through the house. Shyness isn’t the issue – he’s gregarious at preschool. But my son says he’d rather have “mommy time” on the days I’m home.
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“I love mama best,” he often chimes, despite my husband’s efforts to bond with him through sword-fighting, marshmallow roasting and bedtime stories. They’ve grown closer lately, but at times I’ve wondered if our boy will ever give his dad the time of day. So it’s a relief to know the mother-son connection gives boys a good start in life, according to The Mama’s Boy Myth: Why Keeping Our Sons Close Makes Them Stronger.
Mothers needn’t worry about raising a mama’s boy, says author and journalist Kate Stone Lombardi. Drawing on academic research and interviews with moms and dads, she explains why the mother-son relationship has been stigmatized thanks to our lousy grasp of Freud. Ms. Lombardi spoke to The Globe and Mail from Westchester County, N.Y.