Oh yeah....it's real.
I'm talking about the famous or rather, infamous "Mother's Curse". Oh, yeah, it's real. Let me ask you this; how many of you have heard your mother (or father) say, "I hope you have kids just like you". Yeah, one of the strongest ones out there, I should know, I've been 'cursed' twice.
The first time the 'curse' came into effect, Andrea came along. OK, so she's stubborn; tell me what Downs kid that you know isn't stubborn. So, she has an attitude. Again, what Downs kid doesn't? Personally, I think it was a trial run for my mom to see if she got it right.
Then, six years later, it happened again. This time, the blow wasn't softened. This time, this one looked like me. I'm serious. If I wanted to say that someone switched babies on me (no, I didn't want to say that, Little One), I couldn't. Not only was Chris a witness to her birth, but if you put my newborn picture up beside hers, we could have been sisters. As she progressed through to toddler-hood, there was zero denying that was my little girl. At that time I would never to have thought about denying that this was my kiddo. Then middle school hit. The first hint that the curse was active was when I went nose-to-chest with the tank she called a math teacher. Poor kid was having a dickens of a time figuring out math, and I'm sorry to say that she took that after me. I hated math. I failed out of algebra after six weeks, but put me in front of a computer and I was a whiz. Anyway, this tank of a woman comes out of her classroom because I'm fuming about her failing my Girl on a test that had every answer correct! Sure, the way that she came to the answers were not the way that they were taught in the classroom, but that method confused her. So, Chris and I showed her the way that we learned long division; you know with the long line down the zero side so that the work could be shown. Apparently because the work was not shown according to the State test standards, it was deemed incorrect even though every answer was correct and the work was shown. Once I was done with the teacher and not before I was informed that Security could indeed show me the door, I won and the test was re-corrected to show the proper score of an A- (she missed one). That was only a taste of things to come.
Now, understand that I wasn't a bad kid, just a curious one with mischief thrown in for good measure. Yeah, there was a stubborn streak or two tossed in there and a mean streak a mile wide, but that was mostly reserved for my little brother. I have to admit that I did smoke and I did drink, but drugs, wearing my pants so tight that you could tell that I didn't shave my legs that week or robbing the local drug store just wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, I had seen enough of the Dark Side to know that it wasn't a really cool place to be. I had friends that were into more of the seamier side of high school life and there was more than a couple that, well, that's another story. There were friends that lost their lives to that side, one in particular that I was incredibly fond of who because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time found himself at the other end of a bullet intended for someone else and another dear friend of mine that I am pleased and proud to say is still a friend after all of these years who had lost a family member. At that point the world was a dark place, but not the dreary, hopeless place that kids would have you to believe it is now. Anyway, suffice it to say that I really wasn't anywhere near what kids are today....and my Mom cursed me anyway.
I was sitting here at my Mom and Dad's house, looking at portraits that they have of my two Girls hanging on the wall and mom asked me where they went. I know she was joking about it, mostly commenting on how fast they had grown up; me, I replied simply, "high school". High school is when the curse either comes out in full force or fizzles out, never to see full fruition. Looking at the pictures now, I wonder if I'm not far from right.
We live our total parenting lives trying as hard as we can to shelter our kids from the evils of this world. We teach them about Stranger Danger; don't walk by yourself, walk in pairs; wear your helmet; wear your knee and elbow pads. Look both ways before you cross the street; don't kiss the dog on the mouth, he has germs and besides you don't know what he's been eating or licking. Don't listen to the music so loud, you'll go deaf; don't cross your eyes they'll stick that way....their little worlds are wrapped up and tied with a neat little ribbon of Don'ts. Even when we give them a little "leash", we are still cringing and imagining all of the things that could possibly go wrong in the situation. We want to shield them from all of the dangers and we think, or at least we thought that school and the teachers and staff would want that, too.
Gone are the days that teachers care. The special interest groups out there have taken care of the fact that teachers used to be able to actually teach. Now they put on a video, plop them in front of computers, give them work sheets and do their best to make sure the kids pass at least the State Education exams. Understand that I am not bashing teachers. Given the right circumstances and support teams, teachers can achieve awesome things with the students in their charge. Teachers have been neutered, so to speak, in that they are unable to discipline their students disruptive or rude behavior. They are not allowed to call them out for not finishing work on time, and heaven forbid that a coach not allow a player on a team that under normal circumstances wouldn't make the cut of the Chess team. Gone are the times that you could send a child to the Principal's office for a well deserved swat for mouthing off or causing trouble. Now kids can talk to adults any way they choose and if they get reprimanded they are sent to detention which for most is a walk in the park. Heaven forbid little infractions occur by an unsuspecting student who is not generally a bad kid, then they're treated like criminals and sent to a "high risk" school. Some students excel there, others just solidify their bad attitudes.
The curse, I'm beginning to think is that these kids have to be exposed to the reprobate behavior that is part and parcel of their schools now....and that's just from the teachers. The kids that they attend classes with, well, its my experience from what I saw during my kiddoes high school days, that they are there to make the next buck that will put a shiny grill on their teeth or a "pimp" set of rims on their cars. They're not there to learn, they're there to network, and they do it well.
Did my Little show signs of "the curse"? Well, some she did, but for the most part I think that she was one of the lucky ones who saw where it was going and decided on a not so bad, middle-of-the-road type path. Is she a Saint? Nope, far from it. Is she a delinquent? Absolutely not. She is a good, decent kid with a wicked sense of humor, a voice like an angel, looks of a beauty queen and her mama's attitude with daddy's dry wit and ear for music thrown in. Toss a few freckles on that face and a pair of Hooters Dolphins on her and she makes Marines cry. She's a looker, there's no doubt about it, but watch out for the mouth. A truck driver and a sailor combined would be put to shame if you give her enough fuel for that fire. Would I trade her for the world? Heck, no! I have two beautiful granddaughters and a handsome son-in-law because of her. I am proud of what she can do when she puts her mind to it, and I'm proud of what she has become and what is to come of her in the future. Do I agree with everything she does? No, that's part of the curse, because now I know that she is more like me than I care to admit on given days, and now I know why my mom had wigs during my high school period. It was to cover up the bald patches that were created from her pulling her hair out over something my brother or I had done.
Yeah, the curse exists. It's real and alive and kicking out there in some high school in some town. Me? I got at least a puke-green shag carpeted road with my girls. It was ugly in places to be sure, but at least when there were bumps and potholes they were easier to deal with than if the road had not been smoothed out by the prayers of my Mom and the hind-sight of what I put my folks through.
So, I guess in closing I want to leave you with this. If you are a kid and you hear these words: "I hope you have kids that are just like you", become a hermit, run for the hills or join a monastery, or if you end up with children, invest in some nice looking wigs, you may need them once they hit high school. Just saying.
The first time the 'curse' came into effect, Andrea came along. OK, so she's stubborn; tell me what Downs kid that you know isn't stubborn. So, she has an attitude. Again, what Downs kid doesn't? Personally, I think it was a trial run for my mom to see if she got it right.
Then, six years later, it happened again. This time, the blow wasn't softened. This time, this one looked like me. I'm serious. If I wanted to say that someone switched babies on me (no, I didn't want to say that, Little One), I couldn't. Not only was Chris a witness to her birth, but if you put my newborn picture up beside hers, we could have been sisters. As she progressed through to toddler-hood, there was zero denying that was my little girl. At that time I would never to have thought about denying that this was my kiddo. Then middle school hit. The first hint that the curse was active was when I went nose-to-chest with the tank she called a math teacher. Poor kid was having a dickens of a time figuring out math, and I'm sorry to say that she took that after me. I hated math. I failed out of algebra after six weeks, but put me in front of a computer and I was a whiz. Anyway, this tank of a woman comes out of her classroom because I'm fuming about her failing my Girl on a test that had every answer correct! Sure, the way that she came to the answers were not the way that they were taught in the classroom, but that method confused her. So, Chris and I showed her the way that we learned long division; you know with the long line down the zero side so that the work could be shown. Apparently because the work was not shown according to the State test standards, it was deemed incorrect even though every answer was correct and the work was shown. Once I was done with the teacher and not before I was informed that Security could indeed show me the door, I won and the test was re-corrected to show the proper score of an A- (she missed one). That was only a taste of things to come.
Now, understand that I wasn't a bad kid, just a curious one with mischief thrown in for good measure. Yeah, there was a stubborn streak or two tossed in there and a mean streak a mile wide, but that was mostly reserved for my little brother. I have to admit that I did smoke and I did drink, but drugs, wearing my pants so tight that you could tell that I didn't shave my legs that week or robbing the local drug store just wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, I had seen enough of the Dark Side to know that it wasn't a really cool place to be. I had friends that were into more of the seamier side of high school life and there was more than a couple that, well, that's another story. There were friends that lost their lives to that side, one in particular that I was incredibly fond of who because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time found himself at the other end of a bullet intended for someone else and another dear friend of mine that I am pleased and proud to say is still a friend after all of these years who had lost a family member. At that point the world was a dark place, but not the dreary, hopeless place that kids would have you to believe it is now. Anyway, suffice it to say that I really wasn't anywhere near what kids are today....and my Mom cursed me anyway.
I was sitting here at my Mom and Dad's house, looking at portraits that they have of my two Girls hanging on the wall and mom asked me where they went. I know she was joking about it, mostly commenting on how fast they had grown up; me, I replied simply, "high school". High school is when the curse either comes out in full force or fizzles out, never to see full fruition. Looking at the pictures now, I wonder if I'm not far from right.
We live our total parenting lives trying as hard as we can to shelter our kids from the evils of this world. We teach them about Stranger Danger; don't walk by yourself, walk in pairs; wear your helmet; wear your knee and elbow pads. Look both ways before you cross the street; don't kiss the dog on the mouth, he has germs and besides you don't know what he's been eating or licking. Don't listen to the music so loud, you'll go deaf; don't cross your eyes they'll stick that way....their little worlds are wrapped up and tied with a neat little ribbon of Don'ts. Even when we give them a little "leash", we are still cringing and imagining all of the things that could possibly go wrong in the situation. We want to shield them from all of the dangers and we think, or at least we thought that school and the teachers and staff would want that, too.
Gone are the days that teachers care. The special interest groups out there have taken care of the fact that teachers used to be able to actually teach. Now they put on a video, plop them in front of computers, give them work sheets and do their best to make sure the kids pass at least the State Education exams. Understand that I am not bashing teachers. Given the right circumstances and support teams, teachers can achieve awesome things with the students in their charge. Teachers have been neutered, so to speak, in that they are unable to discipline their students disruptive or rude behavior. They are not allowed to call them out for not finishing work on time, and heaven forbid that a coach not allow a player on a team that under normal circumstances wouldn't make the cut of the Chess team. Gone are the times that you could send a child to the Principal's office for a well deserved swat for mouthing off or causing trouble. Now kids can talk to adults any way they choose and if they get reprimanded they are sent to detention which for most is a walk in the park. Heaven forbid little infractions occur by an unsuspecting student who is not generally a bad kid, then they're treated like criminals and sent to a "high risk" school. Some students excel there, others just solidify their bad attitudes.
The curse, I'm beginning to think is that these kids have to be exposed to the reprobate behavior that is part and parcel of their schools now....and that's just from the teachers. The kids that they attend classes with, well, its my experience from what I saw during my kiddoes high school days, that they are there to make the next buck that will put a shiny grill on their teeth or a "pimp" set of rims on their cars. They're not there to learn, they're there to network, and they do it well.
Did my Little show signs of "the curse"? Well, some she did, but for the most part I think that she was one of the lucky ones who saw where it was going and decided on a not so bad, middle-of-the-road type path. Is she a Saint? Nope, far from it. Is she a delinquent? Absolutely not. She is a good, decent kid with a wicked sense of humor, a voice like an angel, looks of a beauty queen and her mama's attitude with daddy's dry wit and ear for music thrown in. Toss a few freckles on that face and a pair of Hooters Dolphins on her and she makes Marines cry. She's a looker, there's no doubt about it, but watch out for the mouth. A truck driver and a sailor combined would be put to shame if you give her enough fuel for that fire. Would I trade her for the world? Heck, no! I have two beautiful granddaughters and a handsome son-in-law because of her. I am proud of what she can do when she puts her mind to it, and I'm proud of what she has become and what is to come of her in the future. Do I agree with everything she does? No, that's part of the curse, because now I know that she is more like me than I care to admit on given days, and now I know why my mom had wigs during my high school period. It was to cover up the bald patches that were created from her pulling her hair out over something my brother or I had done.
Yeah, the curse exists. It's real and alive and kicking out there in some high school in some town. Me? I got at least a puke-green shag carpeted road with my girls. It was ugly in places to be sure, but at least when there were bumps and potholes they were easier to deal with than if the road had not been smoothed out by the prayers of my Mom and the hind-sight of what I put my folks through.
So, I guess in closing I want to leave you with this. If you are a kid and you hear these words: "I hope you have kids that are just like you", become a hermit, run for the hills or join a monastery, or if you end up with children, invest in some nice looking wigs, you may need them once they hit high school. Just saying.
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