C'est Triste

It's a sad day when you bar your son from the library. Parenthood is a complicated thing. You try to foster responsibility, honesty, inquisitiveness, hard work, etc. all while expecting love, obedience and respect. I adore my boy but he is 14. After 3 years and a stint in summer school, he still believes ignoring schoolwork is the way to go. In addition to cramming, losing, and misdirection, he's recently added to his repertoire of obfuscation lying to my face.

My boy, why did you have to jump off that cliff--AGAIN. I know homework is hard for you. I truly do understand that a warm, steaming pile of homework stinks. Believe me when I say-- it will only stink worse the longer you wait. You can do this. Asking questions is never stupid but not asking questions could very well make you stupid. Teachers and your parents really do want to help.

Let me reiterate one more thing, if you ignore assignments they will bite you in the butt. You may get away with missing 3 or 4 assignments but that doesn't mean they disappear. They are growing. Take care of it so you can move on.

Call me old fashioned, but I despise dishonesty. Your homework is important but your word is your character. I admire a person with the balls to take responsibility for their actions and if you made a mistake, admit it. Don't compound it with lies.

Despite the missing homework, I am proud of you. Your teachers tell me what a good kid you are. Respectful and polite. That means a lot to me. Now if you could just work on the honesty I'd know you're on the right path.

Oh, and when we say one hour on the computer after your homework is done, that's what we mean-- Any computer.