Great Expectations
The Snyder County Library is on the move! That is, they are remodeling and so they need to move out of their building temporarily. They advertised for volunteers to help reshelve books. I responded by going online to sign up, but when I clicked on a particular time spot and scrolled down, all the time spots for the day filled.
So, I used the old fashioned method. I called. I told them what had happened, and in the process, I said, "Oh, yeah, I will probably be bringing my daughters along to help." Things were quiet on the other end and then she expressed concern. She wanted to know their ages. I said, "Twelve and fourteen," to which she responded, "Are they in high school?" I said they weren't and she gave me another person to contact.
Are you serious? We don't expect a twelve and fourteen year old to be able to reshelve books? What do we expect of teenagers? Are they able to do anything beyond text, play video games, and rebel? Our expectations are too low.
At fourteen, my son, Andrew, bought a horse with money he made by selling steers that he raised. At sixteen, he recently bought his own Mustang (car, that is) the same way. He started getting himself out of bed to milk cows when he was only fifteen. He starts at four in the morning, and he is usually early!
At fourteen, my daughter, Liz, does a better job of cleaning the house and decorating it than I do. She has cleaned for an elderly neighbor for years now. She has been a "mother's helper" for probably a good year, as well.
My daughter, Becky, has also had paying jobs in the neighborhood since about the age of ten. She likes to help me in the kitchen.
My daughter, Tabitha, began doing all of our family's laundry at age twelve, helped raise her younger siblings, and did plenty of cleaning.
I could go on about my other children, but I won't. These are just "normal" things. Consider this, Albert Einstein taught himself Euclidian geometry at the age of twelve. Country-rock singer Tanya tucker recorded " Delta Dawn", her first song, at the age of twelve. German philosopher and mathmetician Gotfried Wilhelm von Leibniz taught himself Latin and Greek at the same age.
At age fourteen Romanian gymnist Nadia Comaneci became the first athlete in Olympic history to achieve a perfect 10. Writer James Baldwin, the son of a minister, became a preacher in a small Harlem church. And Boxer Sugar Rey leonard began fighting as an amateur.
But I digress from my story. I talked to another lady and convinced her that my children would be an asset, especially when I told her my daughter Liz is 5' 7 1/2 " tall! We went, and the girls were troopers, just like I expected.
While there, I suddenly realized there were three other children playing on the stage. Admittedly, they were younger than mine, but Becky guessed the one to be at least ten. From what I could see, there was no attempt made whatever for them to do anything but play.
And that begs the question, "What were their parents expecting?"
So, I used the old fashioned method. I called. I told them what had happened, and in the process, I said, "Oh, yeah, I will probably be bringing my daughters along to help." Things were quiet on the other end and then she expressed concern. She wanted to know their ages. I said, "Twelve and fourteen," to which she responded, "Are they in high school?" I said they weren't and she gave me another person to contact.
Are you serious? We don't expect a twelve and fourteen year old to be able to reshelve books? What do we expect of teenagers? Are they able to do anything beyond text, play video games, and rebel? Our expectations are too low.
At fourteen, my son, Andrew, bought a horse with money he made by selling steers that he raised. At sixteen, he recently bought his own Mustang (car, that is) the same way. He started getting himself out of bed to milk cows when he was only fifteen. He starts at four in the morning, and he is usually early!
At fourteen, my daughter, Liz, does a better job of cleaning the house and decorating it than I do. She has cleaned for an elderly neighbor for years now. She has been a "mother's helper" for probably a good year, as well.
My daughter, Becky, has also had paying jobs in the neighborhood since about the age of ten. She likes to help me in the kitchen.
My daughter, Tabitha, began doing all of our family's laundry at age twelve, helped raise her younger siblings, and did plenty of cleaning.
I could go on about my other children, but I won't. These are just "normal" things. Consider this, Albert Einstein taught himself Euclidian geometry at the age of twelve. Country-rock singer Tanya tucker recorded " Delta Dawn", her first song, at the age of twelve. German philosopher and mathmetician Gotfried Wilhelm von Leibniz taught himself Latin and Greek at the same age.
At age fourteen Romanian gymnist Nadia Comaneci became the first athlete in Olympic history to achieve a perfect 10. Writer James Baldwin, the son of a minister, became a preacher in a small Harlem church. And Boxer Sugar Rey leonard began fighting as an amateur.
But I digress from my story. I talked to another lady and convinced her that my children would be an asset, especially when I told her my daughter Liz is 5' 7 1/2 " tall! We went, and the girls were troopers, just like I expected.
While there, I suddenly realized there were three other children playing on the stage. Admittedly, they were younger than mine, but Becky guessed the one to be at least ten. From what I could see, there was no attempt made whatever for them to do anything but play.
And that begs the question, "What were their parents expecting?"
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