It's a rather strange progression we go through. When we are small we figure our parents know just about everything. We go to them with our questions. Then we begin to interact with other children. Slowly we start to think, our parents aren't all that smart. In fact, grown ups aren't all that smart. By the time we become teenagers we pretty much figure they don't know anything! Oh sure they insist we should do this or that, for our own good, but we know it's really just what they wished they had done. And now they want us to do that.
Parents. They just want you to make them look good. They want to brag about you and how well behaved you are. They want you to have good grades, and be a good citizen. They don't care a thing about popularity, or the perception the other kids have of you. They don't care about that, they aren't you. If you want to do anything different, anything cool, they'll tell you it's wrong. Seems like parents come in two flavors. those that will and those that won't. What I mean is there are those that will allow you to wear the latest styles, they buy your clothes and haircuts, buy the latest records for you and all of that. They will. And then you have the parents that don't. You're not going out the house looking like that and no, you aren't going to that party, nothing but trouble brewing there.
Then we become parents. We start thinking that maybe our parents really weren't that dumb, We take a few lessons from them. Sure we will make some adjustments, allow a bit more or maybe restrict a bit more depending upon our own childhood experience. Our parents are still just behind the times though, it's a different world today and kids are different. We encourage them to just grow up! What do we mean by that? We want them to do the right thing, as we see it. Wait a minute, isn't that what our parents were doing? Nah, our parents meant well but they really didn't understand. We understand though.
Finally we are grandparents. We may have lost our parents by this time. But the thing is we begin once again to admire their knowledge and wisdom. We feel like we know all about raising children at this point and especially the grandchildren. We have accumulated a lifetime of knowledge and experience. Our kids, no matter how hard we tried, just didn't get it. They are expecting too much from those kids. We know you need to give them room to express themselves, we know you need to allow them to just be kids! We don't understand why their parents are insisting they do this or that. If they won't to be in the honor society, band, or other groups why are they forcing them? Let them be kids! Well Grandparents know how to deal with all that. Just keep telling them they are special, It'll all work out.
It is at this point that we once again realize that old people are really pretty smart. It may take us a while to understand that we are the old people! And there it is. We understand that being old means you have years of experience and you are at the top of your game. Yes, you may have to take a few supplements, take medication on a regular basis and increase your fiber intake, but still, you know what is best. We draw upon the lessons we learned when we were children. Lessons taught us by old people. Yup, old people are pretty smart and the younger folks should be listening to us. Parables and Proverbs are what we heard as children. Seems as though it takes most of a lifetime to really understand them. In the Bible, in the book of Job, it says, " Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? "
Parents. They just want you to make them look good. They want to brag about you and how well behaved you are. They want you to have good grades, and be a good citizen. They don't care a thing about popularity, or the perception the other kids have of you. They don't care about that, they aren't you. If you want to do anything different, anything cool, they'll tell you it's wrong. Seems like parents come in two flavors. those that will and those that won't. What I mean is there are those that will allow you to wear the latest styles, they buy your clothes and haircuts, buy the latest records for you and all of that. They will. And then you have the parents that don't. You're not going out the house looking like that and no, you aren't going to that party, nothing but trouble brewing there.
Then we become parents. We start thinking that maybe our parents really weren't that dumb, We take a few lessons from them. Sure we will make some adjustments, allow a bit more or maybe restrict a bit more depending upon our own childhood experience. Our parents are still just behind the times though, it's a different world today and kids are different. We encourage them to just grow up! What do we mean by that? We want them to do the right thing, as we see it. Wait a minute, isn't that what our parents were doing? Nah, our parents meant well but they really didn't understand. We understand though.
Finally we are grandparents. We may have lost our parents by this time. But the thing is we begin once again to admire their knowledge and wisdom. We feel like we know all about raising children at this point and especially the grandchildren. We have accumulated a lifetime of knowledge and experience. Our kids, no matter how hard we tried, just didn't get it. They are expecting too much from those kids. We know you need to give them room to express themselves, we know you need to allow them to just be kids! We don't understand why their parents are insisting they do this or that. If they won't to be in the honor society, band, or other groups why are they forcing them? Let them be kids! Well Grandparents know how to deal with all that. Just keep telling them they are special, It'll all work out.
It is at this point that we once again realize that old people are really pretty smart. It may take us a while to understand that we are the old people! And there it is. We understand that being old means you have years of experience and you are at the top of your game. Yes, you may have to take a few supplements, take medication on a regular basis and increase your fiber intake, but still, you know what is best. We draw upon the lessons we learned when we were children. Lessons taught us by old people. Yup, old people are pretty smart and the younger folks should be listening to us. Parables and Proverbs are what we heard as children. Seems as though it takes most of a lifetime to really understand them. In the Bible, in the book of Job, it says, " Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? "
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