Today about 25 or 30 folks from 4 different states gathered to cut firewood for an elderly couple. They did it because they enjoy it (only one actually knew the couple, the others were just part of a group that cuts woods like this because they enjoy it). There were close to a dozen kids there both boys and girls, from about 7 years old up through teens. Let me tell you those kids worked! In fact, I think they were going after it harder than the adults. They didn't run a chainsaw but I saw a couple splitting wood with a hammer until they could get it to the hydraulic splitter, or using a limb saw to take some little limbs off. They were loading wood onto trailers or truck beds like pros without being told to work, It did my heart good to see them going after it.
There was a time when we would not have even noticed kids helping out because it was expected and they felt compelled out of respect. Now it is an event when we see kids doing things that should be offered naturally. All kids are good and all children innocent until they are introduced into the world we have built for them. The world and their peers mold them sometimes no matter how hard we try to steer them otherwise.
HA, With all due respect it is simply not biologically possible for infants to commit a sin in the eyes of God. If you believe, you believe we are born with original sin. The sin of falling to the ill side of temptation. Infants and young children are not cognizant of the premeditation of sin. Their parents bear that scar for them until the age of realization. You seem to be drastically characterizing infants and children as the harbingers of depravity, automatically, through collective guilt. The undisputed truth and fact, religious, atheists or otherwise, is that every human creature born will acquire, through their environment and association's the deceit and the destructive nature of mankind. How they may implement these conditions and to what degree depends upon each individual. Children and infants Carte Blanche stained and condemned to hell "until", is the myth of all myths, or the injustice of a belief, which by the way is possible. The Church is changing out the drapes constantly. Correct? I believe, I believe, my God would have it no other way.
HA, I have been watching children play and interact my entire life and do so till this day. You may be confusing the natural pecking order that is on display. Nothing in this world more beautiful than children laughing while at play at the tender age. Nothing.
You guys sure like to deeply delve into just about everything.... Teenage girls could read either of those magazines or neither of them and succeed in life.
Big Bear, IMO success is setting a realistic goal in the game of life and achieving it. I do however realize that success is measured in many ways by the person attempting to achieve them. I also believe that things that we are exposed to could have a positive or negative impact on our own idea of success. There are successful drug dealers, killers and burglars. To summarize: The definition of success is a forever moving target impossible to positively define. I understand what HA is alluding to and towards and that is the wholesomeness of the American teenager today and the impression these magazines illustrate. One appears to say "look at me" and the other " look what I have achieved". IMO and in this regard, America the horse has indeed lost its rider.
Right Rock.... everyone has a different idea of what success is. Mine is for my kids to grow up to be good people...... law abiding good people who contribute and aren't a drain on society collecting welfare their whole life...... if my daughter chose to join the Army and make a career out of it I'd be one proud dad. As I would if she decided to marry a good working man and be a stay at home mom.
HA, I would agree, generally speaking, that parental oversight and discipline is woefully lacking. Having dinner as an example, I will watch parents chatting idly while their children are throwing food at each other or on the floor, acting and screaming like wild animals, and, no fault of the children, are a total embarrassment. Obviously I am a dinosaur and out of touch which many of my posts can confirm. :-) The Matt...I like that monicker. Yep at one time Playboy and Penthouse was wrapped. I know believe me.
Big Bear, Our children should make us proud if we are deserving and have invested sweat equity in their future. A sweat that comes in many forms. Many times it does not work out that way sadly. Your children seem to be in fine hands from what I have discerned from your previous posts.
I'm curious how old your children are Henry and what their career choices are. My sisters kids had their entire college tuition set aside for them by the age of 12 or so... pick a college... it's covered. Granted they had to get good grades to get accepted to a "top notch" college........ but I can only imagine how my sister would have reacted if my nephew had told her...... thanks mom,,, But I'm going to join the Army.
Big Bear, A little different but much the same. My nephew received a full scholarship offer from Columbia and Yale. Since he was a little tot he played with fire trucks and dreamed of being a fire fighter one day. The decision for this young man was a no brainer. He joined the Philadelphia Fire Dept. and his parents were fit to be tied. Today he is the youngest member ever to make Chief in Phila. Fire Dept. history. I predict he will be appointed by the Mayor someday. Living his dream, bringing it to life and being the best at it. Who could argue his choice when the world was open to him with so many avenues? He beams when he is asked what he does for a living. He answers with a smile " I am a fire fighter".
That's my entire point Rock. Can you imagine an American family being "Fit to be tied" when their son decides to be a fire fighter ??????? One of the most honorable things a young person can commit themselves to.
Bear, my children are grown, successful, and happy. Both have college degrees that they paid for entirely by themselves (mostly scholarships and jobs, but with some student loans that were quickly repaid).
Neither got a car from their parents. Both left for college without owning a car or having the use of one of ours. They purchased a car when they had the financial means to do so.
One is currently a stay at home mom homeschooling our granddaughters. She volunteers her services as a Radiology Technician one night a week in a free clinic.
The other one is a cartographer by profession, but also a fairly successful filmmaker who earlier this month won the internal drone trade show film festival in Las Vegas.
I have many former students whom I consider to be quite successful. Some are doctors or lawyers. Many are educators.
Some are truck drivers, electricians, welders, law enforcement officers, computer programmers, webmasters, artists, actors, used car salesmen, CEO's, highway workers, communication technicians, nurses or CNA, SLP or PT (in hospitals, nursing homes and schools), graphic designers, both auto and diesel machanics, politicians, carpenters, farmers, insurance salesmen, real estate agents, independent business owners, junk dealers, work for NASCAR teams, mothers or fathers.
Several are volunteer firefighters as most of them live in places without a paid firefighting force.
Several are or have served in the military including combat in the middle east. At least one won a Navy Cross.
Unfortunately, some are also in prison or rehab (or should be). Some are deceased by accident, homicide, disease, or self-inflicted.
Success is not measured by job title or income. I tell students that two things will determine their success - character and work ethic. And they control both.
Excellent.... The world needs doctors and lawyers like my sisters kids will turn out to be....... blue collar laborers like my kids will turn out to be.... and employees at Walmart and 7-11. It's all good. Just be a good person.....
Good stories all. On the flip side I have witnessed truly blessed individuals both in academics and athletics who were natural phenoms without the outside guidance they required to fulfill their true success potential in their field. Strange that a few of them have little regrets and till this day possess the same attitude and personality. The drawback and sadness here is the inability of the subject to realize their own gift and the disadvantage of not having someone in their corner to take interest. What could have been will always remain. Maybe in fact they did indeed realize their potential and in that knowing it was enough of a success.
Rock, we used to tell kids that they had a lot of potential. Now we realize that potential is not something that they control, so failure becomes personal.
Instead, we emphasize that work will overcome obstacles, and help students learn what abilities and resources they have to overcome whatever obstacles arise in their lives .
Success looks different for each person. Becoming a doctor is great for some, but would be pure misery for others. Not to mention how bad the world would stink if we had all doctors and no garbageman.
HA, I never was a fan of applauding a failure but would give a standing ovation to those who could overcome and reverse them. You are in the envious position of making a difference to the young and impressionable. Many children need a "good shove" to bring forth their best and others still a simple vote of confidence. The true gift of a teacher is the ability to recognize who may be emotionally capable to thrive when challenged and those who may need to be massaged to perform. A teacher earns his wings not so much with a student of unlimited talent, as much as a student not capable of being great nor even good, but one he can make better.
I have often said that the two worst things a teacher can do (academically) to a kid are to expect more than the kid can do or accept less than they can do. The territory between the two can be pretty narrow.
"What sets Duskie apart from the field of candidates for the 264th District Court, he said, is that he is a “small-town guy.”
“I loved growing up on a farm, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world,” he said. “That taught me a work ethic.”
“I can still remember getting up every morning in the summer time going out, getting in a tractor or a combine and I loved doing while I was a kid. It’s probably why I still believe in mowing my own yard,” Duskie said with a hearty laugh."
