Whenever my friends and I discuss our children we invariably end up talking about the teen years that lie ahead ... that dark beast lurking in the shadows waiting to change our children into hateful, sweaty, smelly, unkept, pimply, surly ingrates.
(By this point in my children’s story my husband I will be nearly 60 so one of two things will happen 1: years of Prozac will have done the trick and I won’t even notice they have become teens or 2: the last crazy gasps of menopause will combine with insanity of teenhood to create a reaction so volatile the house will instantaneously combust. Not sure which I am hoping for.)
The inevitable day will come when we will have transformed into the stupidest person in our children's world and the last one they would come to for advice, for guidance. It seems so impossible now. They are so young and when they look at us you can almost feel the radiant light they see around our glorious heads, hear the angels sing while we pose up on that parental pedestal, fabulous and all knowing.
Insert deep sigh
My friend Michelle said that when her teen-aged son stop playing football it was his coaches his missed most, even more than the game he loved. And this is true of many kids who find a friend and mentor outside the home. These people are a blessing - if they won’t listen to us then please let it be someone who truly has their best interest at heart.
I am lucky that my kids already have people in their lives like that. People who stand on pedestals not quite as tall as mine right now but who will never be toppled from their post either. At Tao of Peace instructor Chris is one such influence. Twice during the class of tumbles and rolls he sits with the kids to break for Coach’s Corner. This segment of the class is worth the price of admission. Chris talks to them about respect and kindness and sharing, self-confidence and self-awareness and all manner of things I try to impart but the difference being that Jack really listens to Instructor Chris. (and so does Clancy from the sidelines where she sits reading)
We all know kids often place more value in your message when it comes out of someone else’s mouth. By the time Jack and Clancy think I’m a moron their friendship with Chris will be many years in the making and where their dad and I cannot help them, Chris likely will.
I found my first mentor in my grade 6 teacher, Jane Locke, and we are still in touch today. I write because of a love of language my mother instilled in me that Jane, my English teacher shone a light on and encouraged from beyond the family tree.
Mentors and coaches are great things to find for your kids, go get one ;-)
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