Lessons My Caring Parents Taught Me!

Once upon a time, I met with a particular parent of a student who was struggling in school. When I made a few suggestions on how this parent could help the student at home, the parent became very agitated. I was shocked with the statement directed at me from this parent- it went like this," I did not go to school to be a teacher....you did.....I never learned any of this in college because I didn't want to go to college to be a teacher.....you did......so it's YOUR job to help him/her." I explained to this parent that MY parents, despite the fact that neither one of them went to college, let alone graduated from college; therefore, they were not teachers either, taught me many valuable lessons!

My parents (even though they were not teachers) taught me time management, organizational strategies; they helped me study for tests (even if they had no clue what the symbol for NaCl really meant); they taught me life skills- how to tell time, how to balance a check book, how to read a bus schedule, how to do my taxes; they taught me pro-social skills- how to treat others respectfully, how to be patient, how to shake hands, how to make eye contact, how to make decisions, to always tell the truth, to know the difference between right and wrong, that there will always be consequences for my actions, and in some cases, there will not always be a second chance to go back and "fix" things; they taught me to be a good listener and appreciate others' opinions even if they differed from my own!

I actually felt sorry that this child didn't have the parents that I did; I will forever be grateful for the lessons my parents taught me (even if they weren't teachers themselves!)