If I hear this statement one more time, I'm going to scream. The only thing worse than this, is the parent who allows it to be said.
I was going to start off with the old "in my day", but then my daughter asked me what the topic for my column was this month. After I told her what it was, she reminded me that I didn't have to go waaaaay back to 'my' day, as she had a more recent memory from when she was a kid (thank goodness).
She remembers a time when she was enrolled in a one-day softball clinic and was so sick that she could barely walk (These were her words - I completely don't remember it that way). She said her Dad and I MADE her attend the clinic even though she was "deathly ill".
Now the way I remember it, she didn't REALLY want to go and produced this mysterious illness that morning. We weren't going to allow her to get out of it, because our parents always taught us that when we start something, we needed to finish it. To this day, she still claims she was sick, but she went and worked through the clinic.
What was being taught to her in that moment (unbeknownst to her) was character. It was pride of accomplishment, no matter how good or bad you were.
The kids today seem to call all the shots. What's wrong with parents? We never got a say in what sports or extra circular school activities we attended. There are waaaay too many kids saying, "I don't wanna do that" and waaaay too many parents allowing that to happen. What are they teaching their kids? I realize it's also waaaaay easier on the parents to not have to sit in the rink, go to school activities or sit at the ball diamond or soccer pitch. I'm also well aware of the cost of these activities, but let's face it, that's not it either. We are creating a society of quitters, 'vid heads', 'gamers' and kids who have no communication skills at all, let alone any physical activity. Yes, parents, you are ALLOWING this to happen. You are not doing your kids any favours by allowing them to 'rule the roost'. Believe it or not, they require structure and interaction with others, outside of school. They need to learn that sometimes 'in the real world' one must do things that they do not like to do.
I can't imagine telling my parents that I didn't want to deliver papers or play sports. We walked or rode our bikes to get to these events, not chauffeured. Some of my closest friends to this day are from activities I was lucky enough to participate in 'waaaaay back when.'
Once again, hats off to the parents who still have involvement in their kids' lives and still believe it's their job to make sure their kids 'wanna do it'. Your children will thank you for it some day. I know I do.
Pet Peeve of the Week: Parents who buy their kids 'stuff' six weeks before Christmas and then complain that they don't know what to get them for Christmas. Honestly, I hear all the time about this younger generation having iPods, iPhones, laptops, game systems, etc. Wise up people..it's not the kids fault, it's the parents. Who do you think is buying all this "stuff"? If you were a kid, would you turn these down?
