Sam before
And afterSon Sam, at 16, the baby of the family wants to take a week off school to go snowboarding but his results aren't very good and because of his bad hair decisions (above) it's a difficult decision. After being involved with putting children through school for 35 years I don't know if I'm tired of it or my attitude to education has changed. The other four, two in Sydney and two in Auckland, have done us proud but is that degree all that it is cracked up to be? Sure if it fits that's fine but schools have to be fairly rigid because of the numbers they put through and I love the free spirit that Sam is and wouldn't want to change that. Is that a cop out? Am I being a responsible parent? I think the older you get the more relaxed you are and the less you worry about poor academic records being a reflection on you as a parent. At parent/teacher interviews I expected to get castigated for his poor performance but they laughed and joked with him so I think with his people skills he'll get on alright in life.
Forty odd years ago when I started in the workforce you could pick and choose which job you wanted and after a long period of high unemployment where jobs were scarce and qualifications more important it has come round again with unemployment only at 2-3% and businesses crying out for labour. We have great difficulty in attracting chefs and that's why untrained yours truly has the job!
I say, love em, keep em happy and occupied and let the rest take care of itself. Yeah you're right it's a cop out!
2 comments:
It's tough being a parent these days Chook. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. My sons are currently affecting a somewhat effemanent look thereby garnering questions regarding confused sexuality from teachers and other adults, and reciprocal ire and indignation from my hetero sons.
I dunno
In my 40 years as a parent I've learnt that if you luv em and are optimistically hopeful of their future they will be fine. If you worry what other people think of them and try to change them to con form to some crazy social standard only leads to conflict inside you and them.
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