As
it turns out, the ‘little’ that #1 has achieved so far includes two university
degrees, a stellar naval career, an MBA, and now a future in finance. I’m sure
many of his peers wish they had achieved so little.
What
kind of person writes off a 13 year old? And a high-ranking educator at that?
Lots of teenage boys see school simply as a social venue – lessons get in the
way of their attempts to chat up girls, play class clown, and generally act
like the immature creatures they naturally are. Of course, as parents it’s our
job to make sure they turn up for school and at least try to learn something.
It is a drag for us, and a drag for them. Few of us emerge from the experience
unscathed. But you never, ever write them off – there’s always potential and
hope. (That’s what I told myself in the deepest and darkest hours of #5’s
teenage years – how I didn’t turn to the bottle I’ll never know, but that’s a
story, or fifty, for another time.)
I
was heartened this week to read of a father in Texas who, at the end of his
tether with his tiresome teen, threatened that one more misdemeanour would
result in a rather unusual consequence. The son either didn’t believe the
threat, or couldn’t control himself. Either way, the father ended up spending
the day sitting next to his horrified child in class. I found this encouraging
because so many parents these days seem to let their kids rule the roost and
behave like spoiled brats, with no consequences for bad behaviour.
One
of our kids was once grounded for a week for one of his many ‘crimes’ (I shall
leave out his number in order to preserve his anonymity, though you may be able
to narrow it down to one of two). He complained dramatically that we were
infringing his human rights and declared that he was off to call social
services. ‘I’ll get you the number,’ I offered, ‘and then I’ll help you pack.’
Inspiration struck today at ... Argo, 949 Broadway, right by Union Square
Despite this being a chain of tea cafés, I always go for a latte because I can’t quite kick the coffee habit. (I have given up gluten and chocolate, but coffee seems just a sacrifice too far.)
Pros:
this place may specialise in teas but the coffee is really good. There are also
power outlets all over the place, so no excuse for not getting some work done.
Cons:
a few communication issues have cropped up because apparently my English accent
is difficult to decipher (who knew?), but it has given me a chance to sample a
latte with almond milk (bitter and disgusting, if you ask me) and rewarded me
with a free croissant for my trouble. So no cons really.
