"The Good Son"

I'm currently reading a book by Michael Gurian called "The Good Son". I'm only about 80 pages in, but so far, it is very interesting and a good read. A few months ago I emailed the admittance director of a private high school that I may be interested in sending Max if I can find the money. I find researching and deciding on a pre-school overwhelming most of the time. How do you know which is the best one for your child? I had this thought of deciding on a high school that I thought may be a good match and working backwards with feeder schools into it. Hence my email to the high school admissions guy. He didn't exactly answer most of my questions, but he gave me a lot of really good information. He gave me the information I needed, but didn't know enough to ask. One of my comments was around raising Max into being a good man. He recommended the author, Michael Gurian, that they are working with in the school. I bought two of his books. "The Good Son" and Nurture The Nature". I read the "Nurture The Nature" book up to the developmental stage Max is currently in and plan to go back and re-read it a bit and spot read a few other parts and then keep up with it as Max grows. Anyway, "The Good Son", so far anyway, talks about how developmentally boys brains develop and how to aid in their moral development. He talks a lot about the importance of the father-son bond which is a tad hard for me to read since Max doesn't have one and won't. However, he stresses probably more about the mother-son bond and how important that is. He feels strong in the "extended" family which in his definition includes care givers, schools, friends, and others who play a role in your child's life in addition to aunts and uncles and grandparents. I have found reading both very validating for how I have been raising Max. In addition, they are helping me articulate why some things which I feel strongly about or have been interested in like raising Max with religion or my draw the the high school I mentioned above...basically balancing out those things that I can't give Max directly in our family with making sure he has a strong foundation and role models that deserve the title. Anyway, still not feeling that great, still behind at work (actually even more behind now), my pool pump is still not working and the water has a definite greenish tint, but we are getting closer and I think by tomorrow it should be set, and I didn't sleep that great last night as it was one of those rare times when Max woke me up a bit after midnight (after I had already gone to bed late) and then again a bit after 4 am. He went back to sleep easily after a quick cuddle each time. I was not so fortunate. I was on my way to bed and decided to share my interest in this book I'm reading. I think a good read for parents of any gender or even those single woman still trying to understand men and what makes them tick and why they act the way they do. I really love learning and feel like I don't do enough of it anymore. This book is giving me back some of that joy as well as some practical information and, like I said, validating of my parenting philosophy and practice thus far.