Many of us have children and know what it is like to raise them.  I used to tell my sons to stop rolling their eyes at me, but I do believe children’s eyes continue to roll until they get their first job in the real world.  You begin hearing, “My mom used to say” or “My dad used to say.”  Strange how that works.  We all do our best to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but along the way there are challenges.  Many challenges.

God tells us a “merry heart doeth good like medicine.”

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:  but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”      Proverbs 17:22

“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:  but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”    Proverbs 15:13

Here is a little medicine.

1.  Life is not fair.  Get used to it.  The average teenager uses the phrase “it’s not fair” 86 times a day.

2.  The real world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as your school does.  This may come as a shock.

3.  Sorry, but don’t expect to make $40,000.00 a year right out of high school.  And you won’t be a vice president.  You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn’t have a designer label.

4.  If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

5.  Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping.  They called it “opportunity.”

6.  It’s not your parents fault if you mess up.  You’re responsible!  This is the flip side of “It’s my life” and “You’re not my boss.”

7.  Before you were born, your parents were not boring.  They got that way paying your bills and listening to you.

8.  Life is not divided into semesters.  And you don’t get summers off.  Not even spring break.  You are expected to show up every day for eight hours; and you don’t get a new life every 10 weeks.

9.  Smoking does not make you look cool.  Watch an 11-year old with a cigarette in his mouth.  That’s what you look like to anyone over 20.

10.  Your school may be “out-come-based,” but life is not.  In some schools, you’re given as many times as you want to get the answer right.  Standards are set low enough so every one can meet them.  This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life – as you will find out.

Good luck!  You are going to need it.  The harder you work, the luckier you will get.      ~ The Prairie Rambler

“Train up a child in the way he should go:  and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”      Proverbs 22:6

Eileen Light