Breakfast Club
It is hard when you are young to know if you are on the right path to success or not in life. Can you imagine being 16 again?
Stop. Let that sink in for a moment. Can you imagine being your daughter or son at 15 in the high school cafeteria on his/her first day of lunch. He goes from a class of 60 to up to 1800? Dude, that is why I think i am a good parent. I haven’t forgotten what is was like to be a kid. To be that ignorant being that had no idea of the path life has already carved out for me.
Think about it. have you ever watched “The Breakfast Club”? I mean it is a metaphor for preteens entering high school. The sooner you realized that school for your child is as hard or harder then it was when you were a sophomore pre calculus the better chance you have at success this decade. The shit that your child has to deal with is incrementally as hard as the supporters of their case in 1783. Survival of the fittest man and train your brain to be a warrior the sooner you will succeed.
You have to relate to your child and let her know that your life is as hard as hers has been. Because in your heart you know what is wrong and right and as long as your heart stears you right, the better you will sleep at night.
My almost 17-year-old and I had a really hard time relating up until about 6 months ago. At that point, I decided to stop trying to tell her what she should be thinking and doing and just let her tell me what she was thinking and doing. It was amazing how quickly she began opening up, once I stopped trying to make her do the right thing.
For the most part, she does the right thing because she’s still the sweet kid I raised. At times, the stuff she tells me her friends are into shocks my conscience, but I remind myself that no one is very smart at 16 and none of them recognizes the implications of their words and behaviors. As one person told me, “They haven’t connected all the dots yet.” Once you realize that your job as enforcer is pretty much done, it’s easier to become the advisor you’ll spend the rest of your life being.
Thanks for the reminder. My son just started high school. Your post couldn’t come at a better time. I had forgotten… especially the dreaded cafeteria.