Rachel Paula Abrahamson is an entertainment journalist-turned-lifestyle reporter living in Boston. She covers parenting, pop culture, and news for TODAY.com — and fancies herself an expert on all things twin-related! In 2024, Rachel received an NBC Gem Award (Going the Extra Mile) for her contributions to NBC.
On a recent afternoon inside a grocery store, a group of elementary school boys from Albany, Georgia, clustered around a refrigerated case, weighing their milk options: whole, 2 percent, oat. For most of them, it was unfamiliar terrain, from the products themselves to the expectation that they would choose, compare and decide for themselves.
The lesson, part of The X for Boys, a mentorship program founded by King Randall, 26, has drawn widespread praise online — though one small detail struck a nerve, particularly with mothers. In a viral Instagram clip, Randall guides the kids through the basics. They are working with a $150 budget. He walks them through the differences between varieties of apples and shows them how to organize a shopping list for efficiency, grouping produce together and mapping out the store before they begin. It’s all practical, even admirable, until he adds one more instruction. The boys, he tells them, should call their wives with questions. “We’re probably gonna call our wife 10 times,” he says. Online, viewers quickly zeroed in on that part. “Love it but….can ya ask the wife prior to going to the store for specific apples or brands and NOT call the wife 10 times,' one person wrote in the comments. 'Love this! For so many reasons! But calling the wife….🤣.''No you are not going to call your wife. You’re going to make an executive decision and pick the apples. Do not call your wife.'“I loved all of this until you said you’re gunna call your wife 10+ times. please don’t call us a billion times. We might as well have gone ourselves.”“You had me until ‘call’ your wife’ NO!”“This is why I write the list like — 4 green, not ripe bananas, 2 tomatoes for slicing, 1 lb NY white American cheese sliced thin, Tropicana no pulp low acid OJ…” Randall, for his part, says he isn’t changing course. Speaking with TODAY.com, he frames the exercise as part of the learning process. If the boys are unsure, it is better to ask than to bring home the wrong item. Over time, the father of three says, those calls would naturally fall away as they become more familiar with what their households need. “Every wife is different,” he says, noting that some women welcome the check-ins, while others don’t. Still, the pushback was a small slice of the response. Much of it was overwhelmingly positive, with commenters calling Randall’s work “brilliant,” “so needed,” and even “the Lord’s work,” some saying the lessons should be taught in schools. Others praised the program for teaching life and relationship skills many adults still lack, joking that he was “saving marriages” and asking how they could sign up their husbands, or donate money. Launched in 2019, when he was just 19, The X for Boys began as a grassroots effort by Randall, to fill what he saw as a gap in guidance for young boys — many of whom he described as high-risk — in his community. The organization now serves children 7 to 9. “I grew up with a full family — my grandfather, my stepdad, my uncles — they taught me how to work on cars and houses, how to grow food,” he says. “And then I saw so many young men who didn’t have that, who were struggling with just basic things ... and no programs for them.” The grocery outing is just one example of the program’s broader approach. Participants also learn skills like ironing and laundry, making doctor’s appointments and speaking to adults with eye contact. The aim, Randall explains, is to instill habits that signal responsibility early so that over time, they become second nature. “It’s a big confidence builder for them,” Randall says, “just learning how to do things for themselves.” What began as informal lessons at his dining room table has since grown into a five-day-a-week program that is free for families and funded largely by small donations. Students are picked up from school, fed daily and sent home with essentials like detergent, socks and toothbrushes. At its core, Randall says, the program is about building habits that last. “When you make good decisions, you get good outcomes. That’s what we’re trying to teach them early.”
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