0.1 percent
I am eating up all the "back to school" pictures on social media. If I could select a x3 LOVE button I would for every single post. A lot of days are the same;dishes, laundry, dinner, dishes, kid's homework, prayers, repeat, oh, yeah...throw in one more load of dishes and laundry. However, the first day of school is full of new hopes and dreams. Forget the chores, hug your kids a little tighter and then send them off into a prequel of adulthood. Although, is it really? As I look back at some of my school days, I do not think I have ever been in an environment quite like it. The language in the hallways alone can only be paralleled in the adult world on a chain gang construction crew. This was over 30 years ago that I graduated from high school and I still remember the adjective that proceeded most nouns was f***. Now this word has taken the place of Pronouns, verbs, even the lowly predicate. If this continues, by the time the next generation goes to school it may very well be the only word used in the English language.
I don't care if you think you are a popular kid or not, you will run into a bully. Maybe it's the person who slides over towards the aisle on the bus so you can't sit by them. Maybe it is the person in English who pretends they don't hear you when you ask what assignment is due tomorrow. And in this era of social media, the snap-chatting behind your back is going to be inevitable. There will appear on multiple social media sites pictures of you with a double-chin, drool coming out of your mouth or the dreaded booger comin' out your nose. A multi-hour booger incident happened to me just last week, but because I am 48 years old and basically an old woman now, people were still kind to me even with a monstrous "bat hangin' out the cave"(what my sister called a booger). I must have talked to over 10 adults, 15 teenagers before my daughter kindly gave me the back of the hand over the nose signal. I thought I took care of it, but later , out in the car, I was horrified to find the other nostril full of bats!! No one snapped my picture, no one quit talking to me. There was a period of not so intense eye-contact and maybe so my comrades did not burst out laughing, but I was still included. I was accepted even in my less than perfect appearance.
The bullying and the language seem to let up as people age, but there is one arena where I wonder if we ever move past. In adulthood there can still be peer pressure, but it is of a different kind. Maybe instead of feeling pressure to do drugs or paint graffiti, you are a mom who does not fit in at the Friday play-group. Maybe Johnny did not walk at 12 months, potty-train at 18 months and perhaps throws fits 3 hours out of the day. At the play-group you might find out this could be caused by cow's milk, GMO foods, or heaven forbid--you chose not to breastfeed. Maybe your 8th grade kid has tried baseball, football and track and does not comprehend the rules enough to play team sports. Maybe you are a mom who cannot make it to Friday play group because your child is handicapped and you rarely leave home. Maybe mother-hood is not something you have been blessed with. One time I was completely overwhelmed with my kid's diagnoses and cares and was complaining to my childless sister. She said this. "I would give everything I own for a day of your chaos". I will never forget her words. If you are a guy, there is always someone with a better paying job than you, better vacations and a better car. If you log on Facebook often enough you will be reminded of all new $100,000 motor homes too.
Whatever your place is in life, do not forget we are more a like than we are different. All humanoids share 99.9 percent of DNA. Think of that 0.1 percent next time you slide over on the bus so the shy kid can't sit by you. Think of that 0.1 percent when you feel like passing on an unkind word (or snap-chat)about someone else. I will be honest and say I need to think of this 0.1 percent when I am on the Vegas freeway and someone cuts me off...again. The older I get the less patience I have for bad behavior so I need to write 0.1 percent on my car, on my fridge and especially on my phone. Maybe we should all write 0.1 percent on our mirrors, because that face in the mirror shares 99.9 percent of it's DNA with every other face it meets.
Jess 8th grade
Dani 11th
My unmade bed--back on night shift, I do not make it anymore. Just leave it!
I don't care if you think you are a popular kid or not, you will run into a bully. Maybe it's the person who slides over towards the aisle on the bus so you can't sit by them. Maybe it is the person in English who pretends they don't hear you when you ask what assignment is due tomorrow. And in this era of social media, the snap-chatting behind your back is going to be inevitable. There will appear on multiple social media sites pictures of you with a double-chin, drool coming out of your mouth or the dreaded booger comin' out your nose. A multi-hour booger incident happened to me just last week, but because I am 48 years old and basically an old woman now, people were still kind to me even with a monstrous "bat hangin' out the cave"(what my sister called a booger). I must have talked to over 10 adults, 15 teenagers before my daughter kindly gave me the back of the hand over the nose signal. I thought I took care of it, but later , out in the car, I was horrified to find the other nostril full of bats!! No one snapped my picture, no one quit talking to me. There was a period of not so intense eye-contact and maybe so my comrades did not burst out laughing, but I was still included. I was accepted even in my less than perfect appearance.
The bullying and the language seem to let up as people age, but there is one arena where I wonder if we ever move past. In adulthood there can still be peer pressure, but it is of a different kind. Maybe instead of feeling pressure to do drugs or paint graffiti, you are a mom who does not fit in at the Friday play-group. Maybe Johnny did not walk at 12 months, potty-train at 18 months and perhaps throws fits 3 hours out of the day. At the play-group you might find out this could be caused by cow's milk, GMO foods, or heaven forbid--you chose not to breastfeed. Maybe your 8th grade kid has tried baseball, football and track and does not comprehend the rules enough to play team sports. Maybe you are a mom who cannot make it to Friday play group because your child is handicapped and you rarely leave home. Maybe mother-hood is not something you have been blessed with. One time I was completely overwhelmed with my kid's diagnoses and cares and was complaining to my childless sister. She said this. "I would give everything I own for a day of your chaos". I will never forget her words. If you are a guy, there is always someone with a better paying job than you, better vacations and a better car. If you log on Facebook often enough you will be reminded of all new $100,000 motor homes too.
Whatever your place is in life, do not forget we are more a like than we are different. All humanoids share 99.9 percent of DNA. Think of that 0.1 percent next time you slide over on the bus so the shy kid can't sit by you. Think of that 0.1 percent when you feel like passing on an unkind word (or snap-chat)about someone else. I will be honest and say I need to think of this 0.1 percent when I am on the Vegas freeway and someone cuts me off...again. The older I get the less patience I have for bad behavior so I need to write 0.1 percent on my car, on my fridge and especially on my phone. Maybe we should all write 0.1 percent on our mirrors, because that face in the mirror shares 99.9 percent of it's DNA with every other face it meets.
Jess 8th grade
Dani 11th
My over-flowing sock basket ---to make you feel better about yours.
Comments
Post a Comment