Failing the test

I once read that God gives you patience by testing your patience. I am failing the test today, Lord and I need some help. My oldest daughter just told me I am cool. She and her friends say that cool means constipated over-rated out-of-style loser. She got a time-out. So, while she's in her room, she says "this isn't doing anything. This is just you trying to act tough." Please help me. It's hot and sticky. The kids are bored with everything I give them to do. The oldest thinks it's okay to entertain herself by hitting her little sister. I need a tutor if I am ever going to pass this test.

High school

Yesterday, I covered a high school graduation ceremony for work. It was a nice event and it brought back so many memories. Funny, because the girls were in white and the boys in hunter green, just like when I graduated high school. They had caps on though. We weren't allowed to have caps because they were banned after one of the graduating classes threw their caps at the administration. I guess they figured if the one class hated them, everyone else would too. Anyway, it was strange to watch these kids walking down the aisle and to listen to the speeches about these being the best years of their lives and how nothing should stand in their way. I wish I could remember what it is like to have that kind of ambition - to think that nothing can stop you and you can achieve anything you want. Most of the kids at this event don't understand what a struggle or hardship is. They all have expensive phones and ipods and laptops and probably even cars. I could barely afford to buy textbooks when I went off to college. Man, what would I have done if I was in the class of 2010 instead of the class of 1988? Just watching the parents trying to get a good camera shot of their kid and hearing them laugh at the speeches and seeing them nod in agreement when they heard something enlightening - it was just a prelude to what I will deal with in 10 years. I know those 10 years will zip by me way too quickly. I just hope that by the time my oldest graduates high school, she is ready to tackle her future. I know I wasn't. I was so lost. I felt so alone and unprepared. Sure, I had lots of fun in college, but I wasn't ready for it - not by a long shot. High school doesn't prepare you for college. All it does is teach you how to pass standardized tests. For those parents who are getting ready to say goodbye to their sons and daughters, I admire you and send my heart out to you. And to those kids who are sad to go but excited for the new challenge - good luck. Do the right thing.... even when no one else is watching.

The measure of a man....

I used to think you could learn everything about a person by the way they treated animals. Seriously, if you can't be nice to a defenseless animal, how can you have true compassion in your heart? So, I was thinking of that today when I came up with a new ethical standard. Shopping carts. What kind of shopping cart person are you? (And, yes, for this lesson we will call it a cart. Not a carriage. Not a buggy. Not a wagon.) Will you walk all the way back to store to get back the quarter you put in to get the cart? Do you just leave the cart in between your car and the one next to you? Or will you be extra rude and leave it behind the car next to yours? Have you ever been a victim of a wayward shopping cart? There's nothing worse than coming out of the store and seeing a scratch and/or dent on the side of your car because someone can't be bothered putting the thing back. I try to park close to that cart station in the middle of a parking lot so I can return it there. If not, it goes back to the store. I know there is someone who comes out to get them, but come on - make their job a bit easier and put it where it's supposed to be! Think about how you would feel if that was your job and people just left the carts all over the place. The worst has got to be the person who goes out of their way to leave the cart on a curb or steady it somewhere that is about three or four feet from the cart station. Really? You couldn't take those extra five steps? So, do you think I'm crazy for judging a person based on what they do with the shopping cart? Maybe I am crazy. Crazy like a fox! And are you the person who left their cart behind my car today? If so, shame on you!