Raising Boys in a Digital World {Podcast Episode 09 with Ruth Chou Simons}
Aloha Friends! Today I am sharing a podcast episode on a topic that we often wish… weren’t a topic. As I say in my book, this subject makes moms GOL (Groan out loud.) 🙂
Indeed, as we continue to cover the topics from my book, Boy Mom: What Your Son Needs Most from You –which, B-T-W- releases IN ONE WEEK!! — we come to the topic of raising boys with TECHNOLOGY.
Technology, as in: allofthethings. My book chapter covers screen time, gaming, social media, and pornography. It even has an end-of-chapter- list of recommended filters, apps, and other resources to help safeguard kids on devices….
In future episodes I’ll plan to bring on some experts on some of these topics!
But for this podcast episode, I really wanted to chat with a fellow boy-mom in the trenches…Someone who has — and currently IS, raising boys in a world saturated with technology. I wanted to talk to someone who might offer some wisdom on the topic, and hopefully even inspire us all with some fresh perspective.
The first person I dreamed of was Ruth Chou Simons. Because, she’s like — incredibly wise, thoughtful, AND the Mother to SIX BOYS!!
So, without holding my breath too much (she’s a busy woman, and in high demand of course,) I reached out to Ruth. And she said YES! And now I am so happy and thankful to share our conversation with all of you!
I think you’ll love Ruth’s perspectives on technology, and you’ll appreciate her suggested use of “principles” rather than hard fast rules. (Her use of “family text threads” was one of my favorites!) Ruth reminds us to consider the deeper issues behind the draw of devices, and we talk about what to do if we feel like we need to make some adjustments, even after we’ve opened doors that we regret. Ruth and I agree on the importance of ALL of the things our kids can do (outside of technology,) freely and without limit, and Ruth is, as always, full of grace in it all.
I hope you can listen to the full episode because at the end I begin my brand new round of fun “Boy Mom Questions”! These will help you get to know Ruth and her #boymomlife even better!
Notes and Links from our conversation:
Ruth’s Website
Ruth’s New Book, Beholding and Becoming
Ruth’s “Boy Mom essential”: Goo Gone Adhesive Remover – (I just ordered mine!)
Ruth’s Family Theme Song (at least for dish/dancing hour)
Chapter 8 of my BOY MOM BOOK.
My favorite quote from Ruth: “Every someday is made up of a lot of right-nows.”
You can find the Boy Mom Podcast on all of the various podcast platforms…here are just a few of them:
iTunes (now called Apple Podcasts)
Or you can listen right here! 🙂
About Ruth:
Ruth Chou Simons is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and speaker. She shares her journey of God’s grace intersecting daily life with word and paintbrush through an online shoppe at GraceLaced.com and her Instagram community of more than a hundred thousand. Ruth and her husband, Troy, are grateful parents to six boys—their greatest adventure. Ruth’s first book, GraceLaced, won a 2018 Christian Book Award.
(And Ruth’s next book, Beholding and Becoming will release on September 10th. I highly recommend you pre-order and grab her awesome bonuses now!)
What struck me most about this podcast was the Grace that God gives us parents. So often I beat myself up because I am not getting it right. But as Ruth said, we are not meant to be perfect but lean on God for all his love and guidance. And then challenging our teenagers to think about their motivation behind their social media posts. Following this podcast, we have had some great and thought provoking discussions with our children. Thank you to you both.
Thank you both for your tramsperancy and just sharing the wisdom God gave you. What are some devices that you two mentioned for monitoring other devices or limiting usage? Can you please give some examples?
What an awesome podcast, full of great ideas and encouragement! I thought Monica’s comparison of parents being “digital immigrants” while our boys are “digital natives” was very true. Sometimes I feel I’m at a real disadvantage not really understanding how to use apps like Snapchat.