My Mother

Okay, so all the things my mother said to me while I was growing up...... are being regurgitated out of my mouth to my students. Pretty much anything she said to me while I was young that I swore I would never say to my kids, I have said to my students! Even though I do not have kids yet, her magical words have spilled out of my mouth as I am talking to my students. I have even adopted "the look" when faced with a situation where I cannot find the words.

Not everything is bad. When I say bad, I mean things like, "Don't make me come over there..." , "If I have to deal with this, it (the consequence) is going to get worse....", "Why do you think I am disappointed?......", "Okay, I can tell you are lying about......" , "Is that the story you would like to stick with?....." , "What do you think you should have done?.....", "Why do you think that was the wrong choice?......", "What do you mean you didn't go to sleep last night?....", "How is this my problem?......", "I gave you (insert punishment here) or you earned (insert punishment here)..." and my personal favorite...... "If I find it, I am going to hit you with it."

I love my mother dearly. I count on her for so many things even as an adult that I couldn't wait to stop depending on her for as a child. I now have such empathy for good parents. By "good parents," I mean parents who have taught their children respect and empathy. Empathy is such a big thing today. I attended a lecture by Dr. Wayne Dyer last year and he said something that I didn't really understand at the time, but now I agree with completely. He said that if we spent just 1 hour a week teaching our children about empathy, we would ultimately create world peace. What a delightful concept. But....how do you teach empathy? My mother is the queen of teaching empathy. When I was a teenager, she always made me go to the dance with the first boy who asked me. She said that it took a lot of nerve and courage for these young men to ask me to the dance and I wasn't to act like a diva and turn them down because they didn't fit my idea of a perfect date. Even though I did go out with some doozies - I am still thankful to this day that she made me do that.

She also always told me to make friends with people who didn't seem to have any. I didn't have to be BEST friends with them, but why make an enemy when you can make a friend? However.....she also taught me to stand up for what is right. She said she would willingly come down to the school to defend my honor, as long as I didn't throw the first punch. (another stipulation was that the other person I was in a fight with had to "hurt" tomorrow! :))

I have taken many of my mom's good sayings too. I have a student in my first period Physical Science class who I just can't get to come to class on time and lately, come at all. When he came in to see me after school, he stayed for an hour and a half to get caught up (since I harassed his mother to get him to school). When he left, I told him another of my mommy's sayings.... "You made my heart so happy by making the choice to come in." He hasn't been absent since.

Momma - I love you!