Actually, I write because I've always needed to put things in print in order to think things through. I have journals starting at age 6, wherein I puzzle the imponderables; like why my oldest sister's boyfriend thought I was a pest. As a mother, when a nagging feeling of disquiet over one of my children begins to grow, I'll often write a list and then squint at it to see if there is a pattern or a common theme to my concerns. Attach the dots so to speak.
The other night I started a list of concerns about a to-be-unnamed child. Quickly it became apparent that the theme was "Attitude", as in "Bad" towards her school work. As I was looking at the list of concerns my focus shifted and Voilà the dots attached and I realized I was not looking at my child so much as at a self-portrait of my attitude towards this particular child's schoolwork. The child in question was simply following my example.
Which just goes to show that some of those tacky slogans wood-burned onto placards and sold at every truck stop in the South actually contain great insight. No, I'm not talking about the ones that say, "I don't swim in your toilet, Don't pee in my pool," but rather, "If Momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy."
It's time to adjust my attitude towards some tedious (oops, there's that attitude) schoolwork before I tackle my child's attitude, without the help of placards. However, free Ann Taylor jeans would really, really, help.
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