I grew up very sheltered. We were far from rich but just as far from poor. Comfortable would be the pigeon-hole we would be shoved into. Upper-middle class, probably just barely.
I had what I needed and almost always got what I wanted. Either by earning or saving. I was never lacking but I wasn’t spoiled either.
When we would take family road trips, I was always shocked at how “the other half” lived…on both sides of the “other half”.
It didn’t matter though. I was safe. I had. I never really wanted. Life was fairly easy.
I assumed it would always remain that way. Why wouldn’t it? I figured I would go from the safety of my fathers home to the safety of my own home.
But life? It had other ideas for me. Or I just chose the road harder travelled.
It isn’t easy.
It hasn’t been since the day I left my parents house. And it gets harder every single day. The obstacles are becoming insurmountable mountains, leaving me gasping to catch my breath at each pinnacle.
I feel like everything I ever knew and felt were facades.
Illusions.
Mind fucks.
Enjoy being young because when you grow up, all sorts of carpets are going to be yanked out from underneath you and you are going to have to keep trying to catch your balance.
Good luck kid.
WHY?
I want my kids to feel the same sort of security I knew growing up but I don’t want them to just assume it will continue forever.
I don’t want them to ever feel the same sort of panic I feel, all the time.
I want them to know that they have to make their own security, that their choices need to be accounted for.
I want them to realize that life really isn’t easy, even for those it looks easy for.
I don’t want to scare them.
What is the happy medium though?
You wrote exactly what I’ve been feeling lately. Two steps forward, three steps back. Trying to teach our children to appreciate all the things they have is tough. Trying to provide everything I want to and still cover all the bases is even tougher.
Christina @RantRaveRoll´s last blog post ..HAPPY HUMP DAY
Sometimes the hardest part of life is just living. It is being able to take a shot to the jaw and still be able to remain standing. I just teach my kids to work hard and to make their own luck.
Jack´s last blog post ..A Guide To Smarter Living Or He Did it Better
I tell the kids now that life is not fair, and that while hard work counts for 98% of success, sometimes being lucky and knowing the right people can count for a heck of a lot.
I also told them that if either of them wanted to skip college and become a plumber or rotor rooter guy that Hubman and I.
Might as well be honest with them.
Another Suburban Mom´s last blog post ..Random Dozen
We’ve been having a lot of conversations around being grateful and appreciative lately with our five year old. It just isn’t something she gets because she is just handed so much. I don’t know the entire answer, but for us it is taking a step back. Not providing everything for her. Teaching her how to work for the things that she wants. And learning how to say no, sometimes just for the sake of the no.
Jennifer´s last blog post ..Ruined