Report Cards

Dear Child,

Today is report card day.  I know you might be dreading it.  What will it say? How badly did I do?  What will  my parents say?  Will I have more work to do now?  Or worse, will I be punished?  I totally understand.  I was a student once too.  I had that pain in my gut as well.  But, I need to let you in on a secret.  Parents sort of freak out about report card day too.

We worry about everything.  Did we spend enough time with you on your homework?  Should we have hired a tutor?  Maybe I should have talked to your teachers more often.  Flashcards, maybe they could help.  Do we have enough time to turn this thing around? Maybe I should have ordered those omega 3 daily vitamins.  They are said to promote brain health.   Parents stress out too.

From the moment you enter school we want you to perform better than we did as students.  We read every letter and research every learning method.  We talk with other parents and weigh the cost benefit analysis of tutoring.  Our calendars fill up with meetings and events all centered around you and your development. You are the first thing we think of in the morning and the last thought on our mind as our eyes close.

As we watch you grow we pray you are listening to us.  More importantly, we hope you trust us.  All that we teach you comes from all we learned as we were growing up.  Those awkward situations that we suffered through, are now cautionary tales for you.  The advice we give you is not to control you. It is to keep you from making the same mistakes we did.  When we yell, know that it is out of desperation. Our desperate love for you and deepest desire to jump in front of whatever oncoming train is headed your way.

Understand, that we are in this together.  We aren't in this, to tell you what to think.  We just want to help you learn how to think.  How to infer and deduce.  Those two skills alone will help you make the right decisions for the life you will find waiting for you.  So, for the next several years trust us.  Take what we say seriously.  Feel our love as it pours out of every obsessive compulsive thing we do. Then when that day comes and you are standing on your own two feet and walking down your own path, take a moment.  In that moment, just turn around and wave and know that we love you and always will.

Love,

Your Parent