A woman returned home from work one evening and, as she set a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter, noticed a letter written by her 16 year old daughter Julie.  The two of them had argued that morning so she figured it was some type of apology.  Never in a million years did she anticipate what was written.

 Dear Mom,

    I have great news which, I know you may not like initially but….I promise you when the baby comes you won’t be able to resist her.  Yes I’m pregnant, five months and I just found out it is a girl!  You don’t know the father as he is older (22) and I was afraid to introduce you but…..his name is Matthew.  I love him a lot and now that I am pregnant he said he is going to “do the right thing” and marry me.  I know that once he is a daddy he will stop partying so much and be the best father ever.
     He already has his own home, a trailer actually, and land which he inherited from his uncle that raised him. Remember the friend I said lived with his uncle?  Well that is Matthew. Now that I am being honest about everything, the truth is his uncle died six years ago and Matthew has lived on his own since he was 16.  He pays for things by growing marijuana. I know it is illegal but he has lots of customers with people who use it for medical necessity and he grows it in an area where no one notices.
   Even though I am sure all of this is coming as a bit of a shock, I hope you are as happy for us as we are.  I promise you will love being a grandmother!               Love Julie

PS.  None of the above is true.  I just wanted  to remind you that there are things in life that are more important than my report card which is at the bottom of the mail pile. I am at Mandy's studying, call my cell when it is ok to come home k?

Modification of a previously received anonymous email.

Mama Marlaine
Life Skills Report Card Parenting 2.0
www.lifeskillsreportcard.com

 


Comments

Coulie
12/18/2008 20:55

This story really puts parenting in perspective.

I wish I had heard it when my kids were little. And although they are boys, the principal remains the same.

I learned the hard way (actually my first born learned the hard way) that I needed to sky down and not pick him apart at every opportunity. For a while I parented out of fear, guilt and the idea that my children were seeing the world through the same lens I had carried throughout my life.

I had to learn to check my "agenda" at the door before engaging in discussions with them. And even though there were plenty of temptations to jump in and disprove their perspective on something...like the pitfalls of things like not doing homework or eating all their Halloween candy in one sitting...

Eventually, I did learn to sit on my hands and bite my lip long enough for them to show their true selves to me....without my input.

And you know what? It gave me the same feeling as reading that story above. The feeling that if I just sit long enough and really listen to everything they say without sighing or gesturing in discomfort, they really reveal themselves and they are pretty cool people to know.

I LOVE the Life Skills Report Card!

I wish I had had this tool when I was raising my boys.

Thank you Mama Marlaine! I will be sure to pass this along to all the young families I know.


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Ana
03/01/2010 13:29

My heart sank as I read this, and than at the end I was relieved and laughing. I read it to my daughter and she laughed too. I will try to enjoy them more, instead of living in fear of whether or not they will be succesful in life.
Thanks!

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