Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man

your rules, as long as he knows what the rules are and he’s sure
that abiding by those rules will help keep the woman he loves
happy. The only thing you have to do is establish the rules, say
them out loud early in the relationship, and make sure he sticks
to them.
But if you don’t have any standards or requirements, guess
whose rules he’s going to follow? That’s right, his mother’s. She
was the first woman to tell him what she would and would not
accept; if she told him to wash his hands before he sat at the
dinner table, be back in the house before the streetlights came
on, go to Sunday school on Sundays, protect his sister when the
two of them were out, and always—always—listen to and trust
his mother, guess what this boy was going to do? He was going
to follow those rules to the letter (mostly), because he did not
want to deal with the consequences that came if he didn’t listen
to and respect his mother. He also followed those rules because
he loved his mother, and her rules (mostly) never changed; oh,
they adapted to his age and circumstances, but a mother always
keeps some rules front and center for the men in her life, no
matter her son’s station in life, including respecting her, loving
her unconditionally, and protecting and providing for the woman
who gave him life. She never relinquishes those standards and
requirements, and her son, if he’s a responsible, thoughtful, loving
son, doesn’t really ever break away from them.
Until, that is, he finds a woman he loves and who loves him
back and has sense enough to set some ground rules and re-