Is your son a mammy’s boy?
Irish mammies are notorious for lavishing their affection on their sons and from observing my grandmothers it’s absolutely true.
I don’t know if it’s just that my grandmothers expect the girls to be more self-sufficient and have more ‘cop on’ but they really do overindulge the lads. The boys get offers of tea and sandwiches while the girls are asked if they can go down the shop to buy bread.
This was dynamic in most Irish households but as it turns out, men who were mammy’s boy growing up come out all the better for it.
According to a study conducted by Harvard University which looked at personality changes through the years between individuals being a mammy’s boy is actually a really positive thing.
The study found that men whose relationships with their mothers were close not only performed better at work and school but also earned more money as a result.
In fact, men who are close to their mothers, and even their sisters, end up in more successful relationships down the line.
Another fantastic finding from the study also discovered that men who were mammy’s boys growing up are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s and dementia.
I don’t know if I would call my son a mammy’s boy but we’re definitely close and recently took a little trip abroad just the two of us. He’s also very close to his little sister and grandmothers (definitely a granny’s boy) so hopefully, these social skills will benefit him later in life.
And hey who knows with all these great social skills and well-paying jobs maybe the former mammy’s boys will bring their poor forgotten about sisters on a well deserved holiday.
