"Scott Duncan" wrote in message


Every race, as does life, has elements, like luck, bad or good, that
make
things unfair ... just seems like it would be a good time for a kid to
learn
that.


Well put - good point.

The flip side is that, we, as adults know that life isn't fair and that
hard
work doesn't always pay off in the end. The question is then, at what
point do
we teach this lesson to our kids?

My formative years were on a farm in the 40's and 50's, so I doubt you would
be surprised to learn that I was raised that the sooner you learned to live
with life's disappointments, the better.

To me, that's one of those "tough choices" a responsible parent has to make,
and many don't seem want to want to face. When you get right down to it,
it's all in how you, the parent, approaches each challenge the kid faces,
and prepares them for it.

Lest you thing I'm just spouting off ... my youngest, 18, is a "special
needs" kid who has faced a lot of challenges in life thus far. I'd be lying
if I said there wasn't a lot of sadness involved as a parent, but our
biggest source of pride, and hope for the future, is in the _heart_ this kid
has shown. She garnered a 4.0 GPR last semester, in mainstream classes in a
large urban High School, and came up 80 places in her graduating class, to
graduate this coming summer in the top 50% of the class with an overall HS
GPR of 3.2 ... all of which got her an acting scholarship at the recognized
university of her choice.

To her, she is not "disabled" at all, she just knows she has to try harder
.... and does.

Being the oldest of my siblings, I agree it's a lot tougher raising a kid
today than what my parents had to face.

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Last update: 3/05/04