When the Student is ready... the teacher will appear.

  When the student is ready, the teacher will appear... (and those teachers are not always who you think that they will be)

    How often do you grumble about the kids of today?  It's that famous line as old as history itself.  Each generation thinks that the one after them has a free ride.  We feel like we've paved the way for these self- important brats, forgetting about the generation before us, because they were not nearly as important in their contributions to the world as we are.  This feeling is untrue.  Every generation has a very different path that looks quite different from their parents path.  We tried to change things, and they will too, just differently than we did.  Their way is not better or worse, but different.

    I think that as adults many of us have this feeling that we are above our youngers.  "Respect your elders", but what about give everyone around you respect?  Oh the lessons that I have learned.

    When I began school (after my 26 year hiatus), I remember hearing a few more mature students stating that they were exhausted because they felt like the mothers to all these kids.  They said this in that exhausted, look at me I'm so wonderful tone.  It's that same tone I used when I was little and would be frantically be pushing my dolls, or barn cats around in strollers, when I was playing Mommy.  The first time I heard it, I kind of put my head to the side in that puzzled kind of a way.  I have kids at home, I don't want to adopt anyone else kid.  More than me not wanting to adopt those kids, they don't want adopted.  They are here experiencing new found freedom, many for the first time.  They want to consume the world, learn about life.  
    If you will recall, I tried to keep my fellow students at arms length.  This was more for self protection.  It's hard to be picked last if you don't ever participate in the picking process in the first place.  I wasn't discriminatory in shutting people out, I distanced everyone equally.  After a relatively short time these social service workers to be began removing the bricks from my emotional wall, one brick at a time.  These fellow students were of all ages, some slightly older than Grace.  
    When I look back at my first year in the books I am so glad that I allowed people in, and I feel privileged to have formed relationships with all the different aged people in the class.  Had I taken the approach of "knowing more" than these younger students, I would have denied myself of so much.   Taking the approach of placing myself higher seems so "unsocial workerish".  By thinking that as the elder I had so much more knowledge I would have denied myself the knowledge that my younger peers had to teach me.  We helped each other.  I shared with them what I knew (if I'm being honest it was not too much) and they shared their wealth of knowledge regarding technology and trends.  We were equal.  Being equals opens you up to so many more possibilities and is so freeing.  
    If you look at the picture above you will see three stunning girls.  The one in the middle I gave birth to, the two on the end I have the privilege of calling friends.  These two beautiful girls are my go to girls on style.  My teen girls have most certainly benefited by these wonderfully open, and emotionally generous girls.  One is my make up guru, one is my style guru, both experts in their fields, both give me street cred with my kids.  They make me laugh, and have rescued me on numerous occasions.  I took daily pictures of my style guru to help my one daughter change her style.

   I feel pretty blessed!