The Bridge
Thursday, April 22nd 2010 @ 12:43 PM
Some day I'll tell my children this story. Today I'll share it with you.
A good buddy from years gone by recently sent me a link to an article from my alma mater...that's Latin for 40 fraternities and free beer.
The link pointed to sad news about students taking their own lives under academic stress, which at times can overwhelm a young person.
What follows is not intended to disrespect the unfortunate. It's just a true to life commentary about a Dad who knew his son well, and who had his own unique way of dealing with the challenges of parenthood. Here goes.
"Oh buddy, you're a dead man!" My fellow college roommate wasn't pulling any punches when we finished calculating my probable grades for the semester along with my Dad's probable reaction when he received the report in the mail.
"Ah, I'm not too worried," I said with a valiant display of mock confidence. "All I need to do is whimper a little and let him know that the other kids around here are killing themselves because the pressure is so high. He doesn't have to know I've been to every beer party this campus has thrown since Labor Day. Tuesday and Thursday nights are the best by the way."
So that was the plan as I headed home for Christmas break many years ago.
"HEY!" That was all my Dad had to say the afternoon I came home from a day of basically doing nothing with my friends. I knew the grades had arrived.
"What the heck is going on up there?" By that time in life I'd passed him in size but not in righteous ferocity. I doubted my plan and considered begging for mercy.
"You know Dad, it's not that easy at school. You were there! You remember the bridges that spanned those deep gorges on campus. Well I bet you didn't know that three kids jumped off the suspension bridge this semester because school was so tough."
"Really! He said, sounding somewhat concerned.
"Yeah!" I said, gaining a smidgen of confidence. "And you know, some fraternity guys painted a big red target with a bulls eye on a giant rock at the bottom of the gorge."
"Really!" He said again.
"Yeah...Yeah" was all I could muster given I hadn't a clue what he was thinking.
"Let me tell you something," he said, grabbing me by my shirt and waving my grades in the air. "If I ever get another grade report like this...YOU BETTER AIM FOR THAT TARGET!"
That's my dear old Dad.
© Michael Malgeri
Editor’s Note: Michael teaches kids about honest profit making. Visit http://www.kids4biz.com
I Say Essay
Saturday, April 10th 2010 @ 11:15 AM
I Say Essay by Michael Malgeri
When it comes to disciplining our children, I've tried everything. On one occasion last summer they were so unruly I docked them to single scoop ice cream, low resolution TV, and reduced the clock speed on their deskside computers. Now THAT'S putting one's foot down.
Despite my drastic measures, there's a high rate of recidivism in our house and one day, after removing the "kick me" sign from my back (I wonder who put that there?), I decided to reach out for support.
"I want you to go to your room and write a 3 page essay on why I must respect my parents." Although I was skeptical when my wife gave that order, judging by the reaction from our son I saw immediate promise in the technique.
"WHAT! I don't want to write and essay! Why can't I just write standards?!"
I finally realized that writing an essay was like staying in school, while writing standards was just an annoying thing to do while watching television.
It's a great idea but naturally, when I tried it things didn't work out so well. Unlike standards, which have detailed terms and conditions, there's a lot of wiggle room in the format of a 3 page essay.
My son took the phrase "cutting corners" to extremes by immediately adopting 4 inch margins on the top, sides and bottom. His page looked like a passport photo embedded in the middle of a football field. Next he figured skipping lines would add to overall readability. Finally, the chosen font was 48 point permitting about 3 words per line. When he handed it to me I thought it was a power point presentation.
Anyway, if you're looking for an alternative parenting technique you might try the essay. But don't forget the formatting rules.
© Michael Malgeri
Editor’s Note: Michael teaches kids about honest profit making. Visit http://www.kids4biz.com
