A Person Gazing On The Stars Is Proverbially At The Mercy Of The Puddles On The Road
“A person gazing on the stars is proverbially at the mercy of the puddles on the road.” – Alexander Smith
It is easy to see why I might send this along with my daughters’ to school since it is frequently the case that young people aren’t yet grounded in adult reality.
However, that can be a good thing as well. Parents who make their children deal with adult ‘puddles’ before they need to don’t do them any great service. Children can handle a lot, and there is an obligation on the part of a parent to train them in adult responsibilities. But there are also those parents who are hell bent on forcing their children to be adults, not out of necessity, but out of dislike for childhood.
So, if your elementary school kid has chores, good. If your teenager needs to learn how to take care of a car and take care of their money, fine. But don’t expect a child to not want to run around and have fun. Don’t expect a teenager to not want to experiment with their identity through style and new ideas. That doesn’t help them become adults, it stunts them.
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
