I'm getting old and opinionated and there's no way around it.
Every time I see a dude walking down the street with his pants half-way to his ankles, I channel my inner 80 year old, roll my eyes in disgust and ask, "WHY?" why oh why oh WHY is that STILL in style 20 years later? You are showing your UNDERPANTS to the entire world.
But that's not my soapbox for today.
Several years ago, this amazing old man at our church, Ray, sat down beside me after evening service. He was so kind and sweet. He always sat to chit-chat while I waited for my parents to finish with choir practice, and while he waited for his wife to finish with organ-playing for the choir.
With a twinkle in his eyes, he told me about how, when he was younger than 16, he lied about his age to the United States Military so that he could go serve in WWII. He ended up DRIVING TANKS for the military before he could legally drive a car.
He was younger than 16.
Picture our 16 year olds today.
The 16 year olds of 2013 are a lot different from the 16 year olds of the late 1930s/early 1940s!
And I gotta tell ya, I want my son to grow up to be more like the ones of the 1940s! Strong, tough, dependable, mature, responsible. And with his pants buckled tightly around his waist, not his rear.
I'm reading a book right now called Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement. And I LOVE it. It's right on target. I think entitlement and self-centeredness are quickly killing our country AND causing all sorts of problems in today's kids.
Just this week on FB, I read about a 12 year old child that took her own life.
Just the day before, I had read, in my book, about suicide being one of the major problems facing today's teens. She sites some examples, and mentions that one of the main reasons depression, etc set in is because kids are not expected to do meaningful work. They spend their days floundering around, and no one has to depend on them for anything. They aren't important to the daily living of their families. If no one has to depend on them for anything, and they get to that dark place, then what's to stop them from taking their own life? After all, they have no earthly importance, right?
My kids have been in charge of the dishwasher for about a year now, but wouldn't you know, up until a couple months ago...I was STILL closing the car doors and house doors FOR them. Pitiful.
I was in the habit of closing them with a button when I got into the car. Same with the front door. I've always been the last one out, making sure the little tiny people were in front of me. When I realized that, I thought, "OH MY GOODNESS! I'm not even making them close doors! They think someone always comes along and does it for them, because I do!". So, I started not closing. If they leave the front door open, I send 'em right back inside to close it. If they leave the van door open, I start driving anyway. "MOM! The DOOR is open!!!" Then, close it.
At least I figured that out before I read this book because it made me feel a little less enable-y. But, now, inspired by this book, I'm REALLY gonna start a revolution around here.
Watch out, kiddos!
