I think that one of the best things that you can do for your kids is to teach them to trust themselves; and encourage them to make their own decisions. Now of course, when I say this; I'm referring to children of a certain age; but remember that you have to start somewhere. So yes, I was the mom that let a five year old Kelsie wear two different colored flip flops to the store one day, because that's what she wanted to do and expressing her individuality wasn't going to hurt anyone.
I want my kids to know that they are capable of choosing what is best for them; and then take responsibility for their decisions once they've made them. And this week, Nicky did just that.
Nicky has been a Student Council rep this year, and he's absolutely loved it. He's enjoyed working in the school snack bar, setting up for dances, volunteering at a food bank, and participating in meetings. Nicky hopes to continue with Student Council next year, and as they're getting ready to have officer elections; he was considering running for Secretary. Now why Secretary you might ask? And the answer is simple. The only positions that 6th graders may run for are Secretary, Treasurer and Spirit Coordinator. Well try as he may, Spirit Coordinator is not a position that would suit Nicky right now, and a popular girl had already said that she was going to run for Treasurer, so rather than compete against her, Nicky was considering Secretary.
I was VERY proud that Nicky wasn't letting the two to five minute speech that he'd have to give in front of the 5th through 7th graders deter him. We discussed the fact that although it might make him uncomfortable for a few minutes; in the long run the gain would be worth it. Nicky was contemplating his decision to run and ultimately he decided that he didn't want to, because he really didn't want to be Secretary. Nicky thought that the Secretary position would be too much pressure for him, and speaking as someone who's held that position before; I would have to say he's right. It's a lot of additional work and responsibility. Nicky decided that he would wait until next fall, when he could run for a rep position, and hopefully get back into Student Council. I respect Nicky's decision and how he made it. He wasn't afraid to say that he'd changed his mind; and he definitely gave it a lot of thought before doing so.
You know I joke a lot about how I have trouble making decisions; but the truth is, it's the insignificant things, like what to have for dinner that cause me to be indecisive. When it comes to life decisions, I don't have difficulty at all. Case in point, writing a daily blog this year. I didn't waiver at all about doing it; although maybe I should have. Just kidding!
As always I am extraordinarily proud of Nicky. He's almost twelve years old, and he knows very well, who he is, and he is invariably true to himself. Nicky is his own person and he does what's comfortable for him, regardless of if it's the popular thing to do or not. And as his mom; that's EXACTLY what I had hoped for him.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
I am so glad that today was election day; because maybe just maybe the candidates will take a short break from the mud slinging; and get back to the important business of trying to clean up our states and our country. I'm so tired of all the finger pointing and the bad mouthing that both parties have been doing; and I would have loved to see a candidate who chose to run on their own merit rather than defame their opponent.
I didn't want to vote for the lesser of two evils; I wanted to vote for someone who shared my beliefs and stood for causes that were important to me. I found it insulting when one candidate ran a commercial stating "Barack Obama is the worst President in history etc. etc." This blog is not going to be a post in defense of President Obama; but, I do feel compelled to say, REALLY? President Obama is the WORST President in U.S history? What about the President that he's cleaning up after? Obama didn't create the situation that the U.S is currently in; and whether you like the President or not; I don't think that you can blame him for where we're at right now; but I digress. My point was meant to be, why run a campaign that is anti-Obama? Why not tell your constituency what you plan to do if elected; or how you think that things should be different? I honestly hadn't seen one Republican candidate who told us what they wanted to do OTHER than focus on impeaching President Obama. Really? That's why I should vote for you; so that you can spend your time and our money impeaching the President? The time and money that it would cost to impeach the President is time and money that could be spent on trying to make improvements where you feel there are deficits.
I am very disappointed in how these campaigns were run. Heck, even when Nicky ran for student council his speech included goals that he wanted to achieve and concerns that he wanted to address. We are still teaching our children how to campaign at school and yet our politicians don't meet the same expectations. People need to stand up and let the politicians know that we don't accept platforms of he did this and she did that; so vote for me. I don't want to know what newspaper or candidate in your party endorses you; I have a brain and I can decide for myself IF you present me with your goals and concerns.
Honestly, It doesn't matter what party you belong to; because they are all guilty of doing this in one way or another; but I think they need to STOP! Present your facts about you and only you. I want to cast my vote for someone that I think will effect the kind of changes that I want to see and not for the person who made me doubt their opponent more.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
