Okay...let me catch my breath because that was fun of gargantuan proportions! But before I share this experience, let me tell you what got us there....
My oldest daughter is in Honors English and part of her summer reading involved one of my favorites of ALL TIME: To Kill A Mockingbird. Forget the fact Harper Lee based Dill on none-other-than-Mr.-Breakfast-at-Tiffany's-Truman-Capote OR how a VERY HANDSOME young Robert Duvall played Boo Radley in the original movie version (did I mention how good-looking he was before his Tom Hayden days?)...this book is one of the most important and amazing books of all time. I cannot recall off the top of my head any character who can hold a candle to Atticus Finch and his pearls of wisdom. Simply superb.
After reading the book, my daughter's teacher assigned them a project that I must give her props on. Remember Life's Little Instruction Book? Well, I do. In fact, mine is so well-read and worn the pages are falling out. Anyway, really-cool-teacher sent the students home to interview people close to them to cultivate pearls of wisdom a la Atticus Finch and use these to create their own Life's Little Instruction Book. Armed with her pen and paper, my dear one asked me to share some of the insight I have been imparting on them for like, I don't know, forever. Never lacking an opinion or passing up the opportunity to share it, here is what I came up with:
Be comfortable in your own skin and don't worry so much about what everyone else thinks. I have tried to impart on all three of my children what I wish I knew in high school: don't worry about what everyone else thinks about you, because chances are...they aren't. Everyone else is too absorbed with themselves to worry about what you're doing.
You are amazing. And I'm not just saying this because I'm your Mom. God made you; and He doesn't make mistakes. So any time anyone feels even a slight doubt of self-worth...stop right there. You are amazing. Period. Some of us just think we're a little more amazing than we really are and could maybe turn it down a touch (ahem...Kim Kardashian...cough...David Hasselhoff...gasp...maybe myself a little bit...choke!)
Tell the truth. It makes dealing with the person in the mirror so much easier. If you tell the simple truth, it is so much easier than remembering the web of lies. Plus...Moms always find out anyway. We have a BS-detector that came with the eyes in the back of our heads, so don't even try it.
Sing your own song, dance your own dance, dream your own dream. Be true to yourself and it's all good. But this last one prompted both of my daughters and I to dance like maniacs around the room. Here is our tune...why don't you do a little dance yourself? And if you have any pearls to share, well by-golly, lay 'em on us. 'Cuz last but not least...your never too old to stop learning.
My oldest daughter is in Honors English and part of her summer reading involved one of my favorites of ALL TIME: To Kill A Mockingbird. Forget the fact Harper Lee based Dill on none-other-than-Mr.-Breakfast-at-Tiffany's-Truman-Capote OR how a VERY HANDSOME young Robert Duvall played Boo Radley in the original movie version (did I mention how good-looking he was before his Tom Hayden days?)...this book is one of the most important and amazing books of all time. I cannot recall off the top of my head any character who can hold a candle to Atticus Finch and his pearls of wisdom. Simply superb.
After reading the book, my daughter's teacher assigned them a project that I must give her props on. Remember Life's Little Instruction Book? Well, I do. In fact, mine is so well-read and worn the pages are falling out. Anyway, really-cool-teacher sent the students home to interview people close to them to cultivate pearls of wisdom a la Atticus Finch and use these to create their own Life's Little Instruction Book. Armed with her pen and paper, my dear one asked me to share some of the insight I have been imparting on them for like, I don't know, forever. Never lacking an opinion or passing up the opportunity to share it, here is what I came up with:
Be comfortable in your own skin and don't worry so much about what everyone else thinks. I have tried to impart on all three of my children what I wish I knew in high school: don't worry about what everyone else thinks about you, because chances are...they aren't. Everyone else is too absorbed with themselves to worry about what you're doing.
You are amazing. And I'm not just saying this because I'm your Mom. God made you; and He doesn't make mistakes. So any time anyone feels even a slight doubt of self-worth...stop right there. You are amazing. Period. Some of us just think we're a little more amazing than we really are and could maybe turn it down a touch (ahem...Kim Kardashian...cough...David Hasselhoff...gasp...maybe myself a little bit...choke!)
Tell the truth. It makes dealing with the person in the mirror so much easier. If you tell the simple truth, it is so much easier than remembering the web of lies. Plus...Moms always find out anyway. We have a BS-detector that came with the eyes in the back of our heads, so don't even try it.
Sing your own song, dance your own dance, dream your own dream. Be true to yourself and it's all good. But this last one prompted both of my daughters and I to dance like maniacs around the room. Here is our tune...why don't you do a little dance yourself? And if you have any pearls to share, well by-golly, lay 'em on us. 'Cuz last but not least...your never too old to stop learning.
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