Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Student becomes the Master

Life sure is funny most times now isn't it? We start out alone, eventually if we're lucky, we find our mates. Then we have that magic moment of becoming parents. That's when the hard work, effort and sacrifice becomes a reality. Our whole life changes with that little demanding bundle of joy, noise and smelliness. We just thought life could be kind of tough, unfair and difficult up to that point. Oh boy!.....nothing compares to the abrupt changes one goes through when children enter the picture.

Everything changes. We go from carefree, happy lovers of life with backpacking, camping, long leisurely hikes, candlelight and wine dinners with our mates. Loving moments that seem to last forever into the night to...........WHOA!..........what happened dear? Sleep....What's that? Quietude.....What's that?....Loving moments?....What's that?

So........for the next dozen or so years, our whole lives are caught up in teaching the little punks how to not kill themselves with every innocent thing in the house and yard. Everything is a danger just waiting to take them out and it's up to us to teach them all the facts of life. The funny part is we just barely grew up ourselves and all this teaching comes without any handbook, manual or "parenting for Dummies" book to tell us how to do that. So we just stumble along doing the best we can.

If we're lucky our own parents can at least advise us on what not to do. You see, the only things they learned in the process of raising us is what didn't work so well, using how we turned out as examples. They tell us that the whippings they got as children didn't seem to hurt them too much but why don't you try something else since the law tends looks down of that method of instruction nowadays? So we go with the "quiet time" routine for better or worse.

Then the lessons start. Dance, music, sports, gun safety....oh wait!.... Not nowadays, unfortunately. We deliver and pick them up several times a week for years on end. We spend a fortune on costumes and uniforms. For what purpose? To teach them responsibility, sticking to the task at hand, working with others... All of this because we love them and want them to do the best they can in life.

Then without warning the dreaded teenage hood rears it's weird convoluted head. All of the sudden us parents don't know anything. We are no longer their special friends, we are their secret enemies. The ones who refuse to let them do everything they think they need to do. "All the kids are doing this" they say about some of the most idiotic things they think they have to do. "All the cool people have tattoos and rings through their noses" they assure us, when explaining the monster standing at the door waiting to take her out on the first date.

HOLY CRAP!!!! Now it's time to learn to drive a car. Look out world, now we have our little darling barreling down the road in a machine that weighs thousands of pounds heading straight for our neighbors and family out on the roads. "I can not and refuse to drive that ugly Honda civic. I need at least a corvette to be cool". In high school years, to be cool is EVERYTHING, you see.

After all the schooling is done, now it's time for them to find a mate. Maybe get married, or more likely just live together in sin for 13 or so years. "I don't know what went wrong Grandma, we thought we taught him/her better than that". Their mate has a good job and seems to wear clean underware so we just except their lack of morals and let it go at that.

OK, now is when that bum father time puts his interfering nose into our reality and of all the dumb things turns our hair white. What could possibly be the logical reason for that turn of events? Then comes all the aches and pains that appear out of nowhere. Add to that we have all these weird, rude noises our bodies make when we first get out of bed or simply stand up from a chair. HOLY CRAP!!! What happened to our youth, energy and stamina? When and how did that faucet get turned off? We find ourselves saying time and again. "Is this fair"?

The great thing about this time of life though is it's our turn! Now we get paid back for unpinning and removing that dirty diaper, cleaning unmentionable places on their bodies and replacing their clean diapers. Cleaning blood off of cuts and applying bandages so they won't get infections and have limbs fall off. Wash up and clean the vomit off of them and everywhere around them they so pleasantly leave laying around special for us to attend to when they're sick.

If we haven't completely blown our relationship with our children up to this point, they do appreciate all the hard work, effort and sacrifices we made through the years for them and help us in our later years. If we're lucky enough to have them close by in their adulthood, they help us physically. If they live far away, those hour long phone calls with emotional and physic help are unimaginably important and vital for us.

So after a lifetime of doing our best to teach them how to live a good productive life, it all comes back full circle.......right?

The Student becomes the Master......






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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

YUP ! and it was fun I would'nt change a thing !!! Your only friend, Bob K.

Anonymous said...

Wow. You really are a sentimental old fart. Dean

Paul said...

You can use your name or make up one, BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Name/URL".

Or just leave your comment anonymously BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Anonymous".

I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.