<!-- p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Tahoma} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Tahoma; min-height: 19.0px} ol.ol1 {list-style-type: decimal} --><em>This week's boy genius is the beautiful an fabulous Christine of <a href="http://www.bodyacumenllc.com/">Body Acumen LLC</a>. Christine is the mother of a girl and a boy, and is a STOTT certified Pilates instructor. Her blog is full of wonderful ways to add fitness to your daily life -- check it out!</em>

Me?  A boy genius?  That's laughable, considering the deer in the headlights look I had in my eyes just moments after giving birth to my son.  What kind of society is this, I thought, where a woman can get a graduate degree and climb the corporate ladder but is insanely clueless about raising a child?  And a boy? That was even worse.  I mean, boys are for dating and marrying, not rearing.  The good news is that a few baby classes and introductions to other clueless moms got me off to a good start, albeit a bumpy one.  And, I've learned a few things along the way.  So, with 5 years now under my belt, here are a few tips to rearing a boy:
<ol>
	<li>Feign interest in any kind of vehicle.  Stop to watch bulldozers.  Point out garbage trucks.  Check out library books about trains.  Soon you will be talking with your son about semaphores and pantographs knowingly, and all your friends with daughters will think you are some kind of boy rearing wizard as they marvel at your heavy machinery knowledge.</li>
	<li>If you don't excel at sports, don't worry.  Your son really does have all that "boyness" in him that he needs.  He won't become girly just because you'd rather take him shopping than head out to the soccer field.  Trust me.  I know.</li>
	<li>Your husband will have to become involved in your son's rearing once in a while.  Enjoy it.  You can leave it to him to explain exactly how you pee standing up.</li>
	<li>Think of his need to run, climb, and play as an opportunity for you to grab a quick workout.  Play tag with him. Make a huge snowman.  Go biking every weekend.  Why not let your son keep you in shape, and who ever complained about being the hot mom the whole block envies anyway?</li>
	<li>When friends parenting girls complain about the cliques in pre-school, shrug and sympathize, thanking God you have a sensible boy who couldn't care less about the "in" group.</li>
</ol>
Of course, there's lots more to learn about raising boys, and my "knowledge" is definitely limited (to 5 years, to be exact).  Girlfriends?  Driver's licenses?  I'm definitely scared.  Looks like I may be able to reach out to this community, though.  I like to think we're all in this together, you know?
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/gTtPQ7"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://frogandsnail.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/beaboygenius.png" alt="" /></a></p>