There are some things that you cannot learn just from someone telling you it is so. We’ve all been teenagers and can vouch for this, no? Bird and Deal are still too young to delve into teenage impropriety; they are young enough to dip their toes into puerile mischief and listen to the beat of the drummer in their head rather than the motherly voice in front of their head. They have slowly been experiencing a little more autonomy and freedom, which leads to discovery and fuels curiosity. Their own unique experiences have shed some light on truisms that must be learned, not taught.
A sampling of what my boys have learned:
- The book is always better than the movie.
- Food does not always look like it does on the package/in the ad/on the menu.
- Sometimes the best parts of the movie are in the trailers.
- People don’t always look the same in person as they do in pictures.
- Bands sound different live than on the radio.
- A good copywriter can make a really crappy product sound pretty damn fine.
- Weather people are mostly wrong, especially if you are jonesing for snow in North Carolina.
- If you buy a team jersey with an athlete’s name on the back, there is a good chance he will go to another team.
- Everything can be photoshopped.
- If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it.
- Having a brother is actually pretty awesome.
- There’s a fine line between questioning authority and obeying authority.
- Just because it’s newfangled doesn’t make it good.
- You don’t always have to agree with your friends.
- You can’t trust people who are not kind to animals.
- Smart people can make stupid choices.
What would your kiddos add to this list?
That is a well rounded list for your young men. This year my 5th grader is learning that working 40+ years in a underpaid, demanding job wears a person ragged. After years of creative teachers, she has a teacher with short-timer syndrome waiting for her retirement this year. We chose to keep M in the class because she needs the experience working with difficult people.