Linda Nelson

Image courtesy of Creative Commons By: Cheryl Foong – CC BY 2.0via flicker.com

How many times have I said I will start Christmas shopping in July?

The last-minute shopping panic is over, I’m so glad life can return to normal even though time is limited due to school work. I have one year and six months left to finish school, or three plus if I continue on to a Master’s Degree. For the past six months, I have been sticking my nose in a textbook every night, pushing myself to learn topics that I don’t really enjoy. Math was never my favorite subject, that means Finance, Accounting, and anything that requires equations including economics must be learned by use of strict discipline. Those A’s and B’s I have gotten in any of those classes were more than earned. I worked hard, very hard, for those grades.

Maybe the worst classes are almost over for the time being. – sigh –

What’s in store for 2017 Classes?

Microsoft Office 2013 – I am really looking forward to the next term, almost to the point of excitement. For the past six years, I’ve been playing with Office on my own, stumbling around the software while learning how to format eBooks and print books for publishing. Imagine what I could do if I learned to master the software?

My other class for the next term is Science I. I liked science in high school. Physics and Biology were my strengths. Chemistry falls into the same category as math, with massive distaste. Give me finance over chemistry any day.

Term 4 will give me a second round in Science II. Microeconomics is my other course. Hopefully, I will enjoy the business element of economics over the world element.

Summer I will prove to be interesting with America’s Themes and Dreams and Marketing. Maybe by the time I get to the Marketing class, I will be ready to release a new book. I have several works in progress at this stage.

So far, 2017 is looking to be an exciting year.

Summer 2 may start to shape and change my future career with Human Resource Management and Sociology. With one term left to complete to fulfill what is needed to complete an Associate Degree in Business. The rest of the year will build on my Bachelor’s Degree.

All these classes and working full time does not leave me much time for writing nor doing the things that I love doing. At the same time, I am following the dream of acquiring a degree which I have wanted to do for the past thirty years. I can only imagine where I would be today if I had started on my career earlier in life.

If it hadn’t been for Mike making that call to my high school that day to inquire about getting my transcript, I might have continued to put my education off.

I expect to have a Bachelor’s Degree by the time I am 55 years old. (Probably before that age).

2016 was an eventful year. It is true, when a door closes, a window of opportunity opens. You just need to learn to find those windows in the places you least expect to find them located.

Image courtesy of creative commons license By: Iqbal Osman – CC BY 2.0 via flickr.com

When I was growing up, I thought of my parents as being strict. I never thought of their rules as being anything but what they were, except when I turned sixteen. Then I thought the rules were a bit outlandish.

First off, I was never allowed to go somewhere alone, except if I was in a direct route to a particular destination, such as a friend’s house. My parents would know when I was leaving to go there and expected my return by 5 pm. I would oblige no questions asked, thinking this was the way things were supposed to be for girls. But they wouldn’t let me walk nor ride my bike downtown alone unless, once again, I was going to a friend’s house and we weren’t walking around downtown.

Downtown in Pepperell, when I was growing up, wasn’t anything spectacular. It was a small town with maybe three shops, a bank, and a pharmacy. I believe the population back then was around 6,000 people. That was back in the 1980’s. The size of Pepperell prevented one from getting into trouble.

I didn’t even know what cow tipping was back then. Something I learned about later in life. No – I didn’t knock over any cows. A coworker mentioned cow tipping one day and had to explain it to me.

Image courtesy of creative commons license By: Ben Sutherland – CC BY 2.0 via flickr.com

So my parents were strict. I get it. They kept telling me I couldn’t go anywhere alone because I was a girl. So they feared for my safety. I get it.

Were they helicopter parents?

I think had we had the cell phones that are around today, they might have become that kind of parent. Cell phones are the parent’s crutch to avoiding allowing their children to learn independence. Nowadays, many parents are bubble-wrapping their kids and leaving them that way well into adulthood.

Latchkey kids appear to be a thing of the past or looked down upon in today’s society. Bringing your child up this way is now considered neglect. Some parent experts want 24-hour supervision of children, even when they are in their twenties. I think this is a bit extreme. Sixteen is a great age to begin learning independence. These kids have to learn to fail, get into trouble, and make mistakes to learn by experience. If the parent fears for their safety, then teach them ways to stay safe and have their independence at the same time.

A little bit of common sense goes a long way!

Some parents will go to the college professor to fix their child’s bad grade. They will even go to the extreme of doing their college homework for them to be certain that they get a good grade.

How are they supposed to learn?

When my daughter was in sixth grade, she had trouble with her school work. Then one night as we sat down to do the homework, I realized who was doing it – Me!

That evening I said – no more. I sent a letter to the teacher the next day explaining that my daughter needed to complete as much of her homework in school as she could because she needed to be the one doing it, not me.

I’m not sure, but I think the teacher was grateful that I spoke up and told her I was doing all the homework for my daughter. How was she supposed to learn if I was doing it for her?

So the next time you catch yourself doing things for your kids, ask yourself who you are benefiting? You? Or your Child?

Don’t rob them of a learning experience.