"If one of my sons has the ability, drive, and desire to be a general or king, so be it. He’ll be learning lessons at age 5 that I started learning at age 19. When he’s 14, he’ll know much of what I knew at 24."
I wish so much that this could be true, but my kids have a funny way of deciding what they're going to know (and what they aren't), despite my best efforts in teaching them what I want them to know. This seems to count double for "life lessons". I have this awful feeling that this is the back side of the orbit of how clueless my parents seemed to me. They tried this exactly and what I should have known at 5, took me until I was 19 and felt self-discovered.
Thanks for your insights. One of the things that has often pained me a lot is that when i speak with respect to poor people they don't like it (in my country). They are so used to being talked down (my language has various "modes" - talking with respect, talking to someone "smaller" etc).
Equally painful is when they treat me with a respect (deference) i do not deserve based solely on appearance.
It is possible to extend everyone the same courtesy yet treat them differently. Does it make sense to talk to everyone the same way when we are all different?
"Equally painful is when they treat me with a respect (deference) i do not deserve based solely on appearance."
I wish so much that this could be true, but my kids have a funny way of deciding what they're going to know (and what they aren't), despite my best efforts in teaching them what I want them to know. This seems to count double for "life lessons". I have this awful feeling that this is the back side of the orbit of how clueless my parents seemed to me. They tried this exactly and what I should have known at 5, took me until I was 19 and felt self-discovered.
Best of luck with yours, Seb.