For 12 years I was a mom only to daughters. My husband and I had four daughters. Then, in 2013, that changed with the addition of our first son (affectionately known as the "iBoy").

We thought our family was complete, but God laughed, and there was a plot twist, and this year (2015) we added another son.

I kind of thought I had this mom thing down, at least in principle, until these little boys came along (Don't even get me started on our other newest parenting challenge: the teen years. That's a post for another day!).

Now, I still have many of the same principles, but I'm also learning two important additions to my parenting techniques.

Two Things This New Mom of Boys is Learning:

1. Don't be too easy on them.

I love our girls. I loved them as babies. They melted my heart (they still do). They were (and are) cute / adorable / loveable.

But, oh, these boys.

I don't love them more than I loved my girls, but ya'll: they are stinkin' cute.  Sometimes they are so cute it hurts my heart a little bit.

They're loveable and kissable and affectionate at this stage in their lives and I know that is a limited thing so I'm soaking it in.

They're hilarious. The iBoy in particular (just because he's older), seems to think it's his mission in life to keep our family laughing and on our toes. And now his younger brother is almost always smiling.

Sometimes I want to scold the iBoy for doing something but he's just so doggone cute it's hard. Sometimes he needs to be corrected but I'm trying not to laugh at the same time.

They are my baby boys and I am their Mama and they love me and I love that.

But, I can't excuse disobedience in my sons, just because they're my sons.

I have to help my husband with this as we raise our girls (because some of our girls realize they can get a sweeter deal just by asking dad instead of mom) and now he has to help me with the boys. Sweet smiles and hugs are not the way to get out of obeying, even if Mama melts when you say, "Hold you, I hold you!"

The second thing I'm working on:

2. Don't correct them just for being boys.

I also asked my husband to help me with this one. Our culture is not designed for boys.

There are so many things they aren't supposed to do. What used to be called "being a boy" is now treated like a disorder, complete with pharmaceutical intervention.

Little boys are not designed to sit still. They're not designed to be careful. They definitely are not designed to always use quiet voices. They're not designed to stay put. (Side note: little girls aren't really designed to do those things either. We've always encouraged our girls to push themselves and I'm not saying either girls OR boys have a monopoly on stereotypically good or bad behavior.)

So, we need to set reasonable boundaries for our boys.

Yes: the iBoy can explore our yard without us or his sisters holding his hand. No: he cannot go in the road alone.

Yes: he can take some things apart to see how they work. No: he cannot have our cell phones, Kindles, or mp3 players (or any other gadget we deem out of his reach).

Yes: he can sing or talk loudly at home or outside (unless there's a specific reason why he shouldn't). No: he can't lead a restaurant in a rousing chorus of "Hallelu" or even "This is the Day" (Yes, this actually happened. The iBoy may grow up to be a church worship leader. He's got the lungs for it and pretty good pitch already, if I do say so myself.)

Yes: the iBoy can hug or hold his baby brother. No: his brother cannot wrestle with him yet.

This is where it's helpful to remind ourselves of the difference between what Dr. Dobson used to call "Childish Irresponsibility" and "Deliberate Disobedience".

A little boy who knocks over his sister's cup of water when he's trying to climb into his seat at dinner isn't disobeying. A little boy who picks up that cup and deliberately spills it on the floor after he was told to set it down IS disobeying.

The difference is fairly clear when you stop to analyze the two situations, but in the midst of parenting time for analysis is not always abundant (possibly the understatement of the year, there).

My boys are only a toddler and baby at this point.

But I want to be aware of these two tendencies: the pull to be too lenient because, my goodness, they're adorable, and the push to be too strict because, wow, they sure can make some messes or hurt themselves (and others).

Game changer?

Definitely. And all for the best.

What's your favorite parenting advice? And if you're a fellow mom of boys, have you struggled with these two aspects?

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