We tried so hard to make things better for
our kids
that we made them
worse.
For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like
for
them to know about hand me down clothes and
homemade ice cream and leftover
meat loaf sandwiches.
I really would.
I hope you learn
humility by being humiliated, and that
you learn honesty by being cheated. I
hope you learn to
make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.
And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car
when you are
sixteen.
It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies
born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a
black eye
fighting for something you believe in, I hope
you have to share a bedroom
with your younger brother.
And it's all right if you have to draw a line
down the
middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the
covers
with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.
When you want to see a
movie and your little brother
wants to tag along, I hope you'll let
him. I hope you have
to walk uphill to school with your friends and
that you
live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days
when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask
your driver to drop
you two blocks away so you won't
be seen riding with someone as uncool as
your Mom.
If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you
how to
make one instead of buying one.
I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and
read books.
When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn
to
add and subtract in your head. I hope you get teased
by your friends
when you have your first crush on a girl,
and when you talk back to your
mother that you learn what
ivory soap tastes like.
May you
skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your
hand on a stove and stick your
tongue on a frozen flagpole.
And if a friend offers you dope or a joint,
I
hope you realize he is not your friend. I sure hope you
make time to
sit on a porch with your Grandpa and go
fishing your Uncle.
May you
feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the
holidays. I hope your
mother punishes you when you throw
a baseball through your neighbor's window
and that she
hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her
a plaster mold of your hand.
These things I wish for you - tough
times and
disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's
the
only way to appreciate life. Written with a pen.
Sealed with a
kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before
you do, I'll go to heaven
and wait for you.
We secure our friends, not by
accepting favors,
but by doing them.
Paul Harvey
NOW THE RIDDLE:
When asked this riddle, 80% of
kindergarten kids got
the answer, compared to 17% of Stanford University
seniors.
What is greater than God, More evil than the devil,
The
poor have it, The rich need it, And if you eat it,
you'll die?
