When my daughters (pictured above standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower) were in pre-school, the Director of the School suggested that all the parents read a book, The Blessings of a Skinned Knee.
The book posits the notion that harm, physical, mental or even emotional, is not always a bad thing for a child to experience. It teaches the importance of resilience. And it nurtures the ability to bounce back from adversity.
I mention this because last week I did a posting about crappy jobs. And how crappy jobs help build character.
And now, I've I just put two and two together and realized I have done a terrible job raising my children. Because my girls have had everything handed to them.
Everything but hardship, that is.
Since they were infants, they've each had their own rooms.
They each have their own laptop computers.
Actually, since the school runs a laptop program, my daughters each have two computers.
They each have a closet and half full of clothes.
They each have enough nail polish to cover the Superdome.
They each have an iPhone.
They each have a surprising knack for avoiding household chores.
And they each have an amazing ability to talk twenty dollar bills out of my wallet and into their purses.
In other words, they never received the blessings of a skinned knee.
They hardly know from hardship.
And to this very day, have never experienced any adversity of any kind.
There is one possible saving grace.
In the great lottery of Life, they drew me as their father.
I find it difficult living with myself, I'm hoping it will suffice for them as well.
2 comments:
You missed your chance to make them more resourceful. You should've left them at the Eiffel Tower, and as you were walking away said, "See ya at home."
Better dream up some adversity to put on those college apps!
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