Let ME… tell YOU… what’s WRONG with kids today…

Let ME… tell YOU… what’s WRONG with kids today…

Really? You want me to tell you?

Really?

Because ME… I’m sick to the back teeth of hearing this and similar remarks in various guises… such as OH! and don’t even get me started on THIS generation’s whole sense of entitlement etc etc etc…

Yeah… I’ve had my fill of hearing this…

I’ve been parenting for knocking on for 25 years, what with 4 of my own and two step-kids…

And believe you me, throughout all these years, there’s never been a shortage of people queuing up to offer unsolicited advice, give me the benefit of their wisdom and generally point out just exactly how I’m doing it all wrong…

Yeah… time and time again I’ve been accused of bad parenting for all manner of reasons… Reasons may I add that make no sense to me… just that I’m not doing it right because the way I do things is not the way another person does things…

Well… bully for you!

There is that old phrase that kids don’t come with instruction manuals… and to be honest, even if they did, it would be highly probable that I wouldn’t read it anyway… But… bearing in mind I come from being dragged up by parents who really would have been doing me a massive favour by tossing me into the gutter to be raised by urban foxes… well… I consider it a huge success to end the day with the same number of kids I started with…

But… manual or no manual… There is one thing I know for sure(or as sure as one woman can be) and that is that all my kids are different… They are individuals with different needs and there is no one size fits all method… To treat them equally means to treat them all differently… to help and assist as and when and how required… to help them help themselves…

And I look at my kids and I like what I see… Ok… so they drive me to the brink of insanity on a regular basis but on the whole… yeah… I like what I see… I see witty, bright, intelligent people… I see very many things… I see what is RIGHT with my children…

OK… so I’m their Mother and I may be biased…

But this is one of the many reasons that I love to read tarot… I read tarot and I get to meet people of all ages from all walks of life… There’s no such thing as a typical tarot client, other than a general curiosity to find out more about one’s self…

So… today I am at an event and a youth keeps passing by my table and glancing across… He walks over in between clients and asks how much I charge. I tell him… he raises an eyebrow, thanks me and walks away…

Later he returns… He stands at a discreet distance and watches the reading that I’m doing and when the table becomes empty again, he walks over and asks – May I sit?

Sure…

He sits down and places his money on the table… He turns his calm face towards me and his eyes meet mine and he says – I’d like you to read my tarot for me please, I’d like you to tell me what you see…

A woman appears at his shoulder and says… Hey! I’m his Mum, is it ok for me to listen in? Can I squeeze myself in between you?

I turn to the youth – Is that ok with you?

He says- Yes, I’m perfectly fine with that, if that is ok with you.

We are all agreed and so the reading begins…

And it really is not my place to divulge the contents of a reading… but let’s just say that sat in the middle of his cards was this…

And around this card lay other cards that sounded out like a magnificent orchestra playing a symphony…

I looked into this youth’s eye and his steady gaze held mine… and my mind spiraled into the future and I saw glimpses of all the lives that he would touch… How his passion would radiate like the rays of the sun to warm and bless those around him… But I didn’t tell him what I thought he would become… I didn’t want to hear him in the future telling someone that he was doing this, that or the other because some tarot reader saw it in his cards… No… that’s piffle and tosh… What he will become, he will become through his own efforts and nothing should take that power away from him…

Instead, I told him what I could see now… And most of what I said made very little sense to me as they felt to be things that would normally be said to someone much much older… But I felt to be looking at very special person, one filled with focus, a sense of purpose, calmness, drive, talent and ambition… yet humble, grounded, polite and well mannered and considerate of those around him… He listened as I spoke and never took his eyes off of me and then he thanked me again… yes… you’re right that’s exactly how I am… He put his hand out to shake mine and again he thanked me and he said – I like what you see. I’m very happy that you’ve seen that. He left my table and his mother sat down and she said to me… Ok… now let me tell you why I’m so happy that you’ve seen that… My son is exactly how you described him and he is 17 and he has his own business, he can support himself and he’s worked really hard to make a living out of the things that  he loves most… he pours heart and soul into doing what he’s always wanted to do…

And she said much more and I watched her talk and felt my heart warm as the pride, respect and admiration she felt for her son spilled out of her…

So…

Let ME… tell YOU… what’s WRONG with kids today…

Nothing!!! Nothing is wrong with kids today… I believe that all kids are born with dreams and potential…

And our main job is to NOT PISS ON THEIR PARADE…

So… should you ever feel the urge to offer me your take on what is wrong with kids today… approach with extreme caution or you may well find that you’ve just grabbed a tiger by the tail…

I respectfully suggest that you leave me alone and go and actually LISTEN to some of these kids…

Then… YOU… tell ME… what’s RIGHT with kids today… because that’s something I have plenty of time to listen to…