A while back, I saw a student tweet this:
“I am so done with my stupid family. Seriously can’t wait to get out of this house.”
Really? Because I’m not sure that would go well for you! You want money, but you won’t work at McDonald’s. You want freedom, but you don’t want responsibility. You want food, but you don’t want your parents, who work hard to put food on the table…to be parents.
Some of my students make me want to cuss.
This is mainly because I never acted like that when I was a kid.
Did you catch that? That’s called humor. And it’s not true.
Of course, I had those thoughts when I was a teenager. I would guess most adults did at one point. And that’s what I’m really struggling with; at what point do we file this under “growing up”?
It’s tough for me to do that. Like it’s tough for me to accept that students still throw their lives away after we do everything we can to point them in the right direction. Maybe the reason I’m so mad is that we set out to help students get it right the first time.
Good luck, slugger.
I get it. I set my self up for a huge disappointment. But what do you do? Whether or not the stats are terrible, I’m praying that God will use me to impact a generation!
So, let me talk to the students for a second:
You need to freakin’ calm down. When you say things like the student did in the tweet above, you are simply spitting in your parents’ faces. Even if you don’t have the most involved or encouraging parents, you can’t afford to treat them without respect; mainly, because of the Bible. We are all commanded to honor our moms and dads. And let me finish with this: Some of you freak out when your parents make a mistake, as if they are perfect, but then you freak out when they have unrealistic expectations for you. Think all the way around this issue before you go saying words that can never be forgotten!
Now, let’s talk to the parents:
You knew this day was coming. You knew that because you experienced it when you left home. You knew what it felt like to crave the freedom of living on your own. You were so anxious to be an adult. And then life smacked you around like you were in the ring with Kimbo Slice. You got humble. You got bills. You got a job. You didn’t get summer vacation anymore. You had a kid. You stopped sleeping. All your money started going to items in your budget filed under N, for “Not for you anymore.”And you love it. Because they’re worth it. When they fell when they were learning how to walk, you didn’t scold them. When they were learning how to ride a bike, you didn’t get mad that they didn’t figure it out the first time. And when your kids speak rudely to you about how they can’t wait to leave home, you’ll take it on the chin. Worse, you’ll take it on the heart. You’ll wonder what happened to the kid went that wanted to spend every spare moment with you. But you’ll know…this is part of growing up. You’ll understand that this is just what teenagers do when they get to this point.
I don’t know where you land on this issue, but it hits home for me. My oldest is three years old and thinks I’m a super hero. He loves to spend time with me. And one day, that might change. He’ll certainly learn that I’m not superhuman. And when that day comes, will you just shoot me a link to this blog post? And maybe take me out for a drink.
Signed,
Superman…for now
p.s. It should go without saying that I love my students dearly!