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Mentoring Mondays: School.
Post 4 from the amazing Adam Thurston... LOVING this new segment :) And I know the followers are too!! Thanks, Adam, for sharing with my readers and I... even though we're so far away... it will be like we've been there all along... :) p.s. you can find his blog here... follow him :)
Mentoring Mondays
Teaching you to be a Lady while you teach me to be a Daddy.
School.
Our Western society deems that you will be in school from the time you’re about six until you’re eighteen. After that, education becomes optional but not really unless you want to earn at the poverty line like your old man. School, be it grade school or grad school can be pretty tough so I thought we’d discuss some basic survival techniques to ensure maximum safety and minimal humiliation.
First: The classes WILL NOT be the hardest part of any level of school you attend. The students will be the hardest part. Many different scientists across many different fields over the course of many years have all come up with the same conclusion: kids are mean. While the reasons for this aren’t always clear, just know that it’s a commonly held fact. And just knowing that fact will see you through many a struggle. Some of it is shitty parenting. I mean let’s face it, not every kid is going to have great and cool parents like yours. They have boring parents that don’t remember what it’s like to be a kid. Therefore they make their kids behave like adults. Kids, not being able to cope with that pressure, react and act like little miniature assholes of their parents. Sadly, you will have to deal with these kids. They will be snotty and unreasonable and they will have no explanation for it. While this may be confusing to you, this is just a coping mechanism for them to deal with their own lives and trying to behave towards what they think is “cool.“ It’s also likely that they are overcome by your beauty and kind, gentle nature. Because you will likely look like this
As you can see, your mother is very beautiful. Sometimes pretty girls have it hard too. Other girls are jealous of their looks and boys will pick on them just because they’re overwhelmed by their beauty. But it gets worse. You could end up looking like this.
Since you’re a girl, I (and everyone who just saw that last picture) are really pulling for you looking like your mother. Back to the point, kids can be mean. Sadly, it gets worse in junior high. The clique and caste system are in full effect at this point and sometimes it will truly feel like hell. But at least it’s decent boot camp for high school. This is where friends and your parents come in to play. You’ll have made some friends and they will see you through your hard times and you’ll see them through theirs. And as mentioned in my previous blogs, you can come to your mother and I for anything at all. We’ll always have time for you.
Second: Pay attention! You’re there to get an education. Your education will be incredibly defining towards what sort of future you’ll have. What sort of job you’ll get, etc. It won’t always be easy but we’ll have raised you with a strong work ethic, and because I’ll have been reading to you since you were an infant your reading comprehension is going to be literally off the charts. And although this is slightly contrary to what I said earlier in this post, school can be fun! Learning can actually be fun! You’ll find passions for subjects and those passions may influence you on what sort of job or career you might want to have when you’re older.
Third: Teachers. It’s been awhile since my pupils belonged to a pupil (I punned!) but just like the afore mentioned kids, teachers come in all types. Most of them are good people that started teaching because they enjoy helping people learn. Some are old and strict. Some are young and casual. You will have your favorites that you’ll remember long after done being a student and some will get under your skin so badly you’ll dread having to walk into their classroom. And if you’re really unlucky, when you’re in college you’ll have that mid-forties prof that follows you around campus and calls you at odd hours of the night. But I suppose that’s why you have a dad. But the point is to learn from them what you can. Even that strict, crusty old guy might actually know what he’s talking about and it might be something important for you to know.
Well that about wraps it up for the old man this week, Maddie. August can’t come soon enough.
I love you.
Your Dad