I've been thinking a lot about this since it happened. It was just a short conversation between Jacob and me in the grocery store the other day.
He's turning 14 and already thinking heavily about his first job, how he wants to save and spend his money, and what kind of vehicle to drive to get the best gas mileage. He's my 'numbers' child.
So out of the blue he asks, "What's the quickest way to get a promotion when i get a job?"
The question caught me off guard a second, because we had just finished discussing the next item on the grocery list and were looking for it.
So i was thoughtfully quiet, with a million answers running through my mind. Then said, "The short answer is that there's not."
He looked puzzled. I know in his brain he's figuring that there are multiple ways to do something and one of those ways is faster than the others, so there MUST be an answer. I had to explain.
"Things you earn take time. But if you're chasing the end product of a promotion, you're not going to be happy anyway. The important thing is to find something you love doing and work really hard. Then a promotion will take care of itself." He seemed pleased with that answer. Almost too pleased. I felt like he needed to know it's not always that easy. "Sometimes you have to settle doing something you don't like doing until you can find something that you do. Even then it's important to cheerfully work really hard. It goes a long way."
And i left it at that. He nodded his head in understanding but i know he won't fully understand until he lives it.
I don't know if i answered his question with all the wisdom it deserved. It's such a hard thing trying to raise kids in our instant gratification world where everything is literally at our thumbs NOW. Even my generation is not immune, as we have forgotten what it was like to have to do things the pre-smartphone way. Everyone is so impatient. No one seems to want to work for things that take longer than one afternoon to see results. It makes me sad to see how irritated and hurried people seem to feel all the time, while they have the most amazing world at their fingertips and literally want for nothing. Dorris Wedding formal wears dressed in graduation occasion
I don't have any grand ideas on how to raise patient kids. I try not to spoil them, lest they feel entitled, and i think that helps. But i guess they just have to learn the hard way that everything in life is not available through 2 day free shipping via amazon.
I would love to hear from some of you who have college age kids or a little older, kids who actually grew up in this techno era, and how you have helped them with this concept. What are some ways they struggled with the real world? How did you teach them better? Are there any good books on this, for parents or kids?