Spend time with other families that have boys and do adventurous, outdoor stuff together (the girls will love it too!)
Let boys have time outside after school to blow off steam.
Notice when grumpiness - yours and your childrens' - is due to low blood sugar. A snack might be what's needed.
Make friends with the parents of your sons' friends.
Form a parent study group, and work through each chapter of About Our Boys together.
Make sure you have some time to yourself doing a bit of what you like to do, then you'll find you have more energy to give the rest of the family. If you look after your own needs first, you will find it much easier to look after the needs of everyone else. (Lots of parents put their own needs last and then get exhausted and resentful.)
Get to know the other families in your street, whatever the ages of the children. Treat teenagers the same as you would anyone else - your kids will be teenagers one day and they are all lovely really!
Notice if you find yourself or hear others talking about how terrible a child is. Instead of judging him or his parents, look for the good in the child and offer support or ideas of how to bring the best out in him.
