Biggest Milestone...to Date

In about 12 hours I will be sitting in the midst of family and friends (ours and several thousand others) for my son's high school graduation ceremony. I have been touched by the congratulatory messages he / we have received over the past few weeks, whether they be on Facebook, phone calls, texts, or in the mountain of graduation cards. Each one has put a huge smile on my face.

Yes, I am a VERY proud mother!

Now, I will never be ungrateful to those providing the wonderful words of kindness, congratulations, or praise for the success my son has had, but to be honest, it is all about HIS determination. It was HIS decision to audition for his first theater production (High School Musical) when he was in sixth grade, to try out for the highly acclaimed and award winning NHS Academic Decathlon at the end of his sophomore year, and set the goal to be a National AP and National Merit Scholar. These are objectives he set for himself ~ and subsequently achieved! I can't take credit for this success. Yes, we provided him with some opportunities, encouragement, and support along the way, but this is HIS fault!

In all honesty we deserve no praise for the young man who will be giving the Salutatorian address this afternoon. God blessed us seventeen (and a half) years ago with this beautiful baby. He entrusted him to our care and He expected us to exceed His expectations in this baby boy's upbringing. Lord, I hope we have done the quality job (to this point) you envisioned.When we were blessed as parents in 1995, it became our responsibility to love, nurture, and protect this precious life. 

Responsibility ~ the quality or state of being responsible, moral, legal, or mental accountability.

I have been uncomfortable accepting congratulatory praise for my son's success. Again, this is HIS success. What I want to say is, "Thank you. I have (hopefully) met my responsibility as a parent, to this point." I know it sounds crass, but believe me that is not the intention. It goes back to the responsibility God placed in my (our) hands all those years ago when this frail ~ our son was born with Hyaline Membrane Disease, little life was born. 

I hear, "It's not MY fault" all the time from children and adults alike. I don't believe people take responsibility, of any kind, seriously. If you can pass with a 70, then let mediocrity reign, right? NO! Everyone needs to strive for excellence. One person's level of excellence can be vastly different from someone else's, but why not endeavor for YOUR very best, all the time! 

It seems when it comes to education so many students want to get by expending the least amount of effort possible. Is this what we want for the next generation of the work force? It is a matter of responsibility. As parents, not only are we responsible for our children, but we should also be held accountable for teaching them this very important quality.

I believe the proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child", but everyone needs to remember a parent is the child's first teacher! We must step up to the plate and teach our children, support the professionals in the classroom, and expect the very best from each and every individual. If we are accepting of the ordinary, then why try harder? I will tell you why, because it is deserved. Each child merits a parents very best. I know some days it is harder than others to strive for perfection, but don't our children deserve the attempt?

Okay, I will step down from my soap box and end with some of the things I will miss greatly in the next days, weeks, months, and years to come.

• reciting the lines for each character, especially Sheldon, from the Big Bang Theory
• singing in the car to some of our favorite songs from Wicked ("Because I Knew You"), Spamalot ("I'm Not Dead Yet!"), 1776 (I Have Come to the Conclusion ~ "Sit Down John"), Ragtime ("Wheels of a Dream"), etc.
• running after the cats trying to catch them (hopefully not ever causing the cat to spill a fully melted candle of wax on itself EVER again!)
• asking him to take out the garbage, empty the dishwasher, put his clothes down the laundry chute, etc. (over and over and over and over again)
• driving from here to there, back here and then over there
• whistling while working on the computer (okay, maybe not miss so much, as notice the silence)
• talking about school - and his daily "quality educational experience"
• the vast multitasking (listening to AcDec music, writing notes, reading study materials, and "watching" BBT ~ I'm sure there are  many other items to be added to this list, but these were the most evident when walking by)
• being mocked (I don't have an accent!!!)
• arguing (yes, I said it...I will miss it, but I remain the Queen!)

Congratulations, son, on all of your hard work. I have loved you from the moment I learned you were coming into this world and I could never have dreamed of the greatness you have achieved. You are my love, my life and today we honor you as you end this chapter in your life. Now, on to Part Two in this awesome book. I know the best is yet to come. 

I love you with all my heart ~ Moma

The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy

Last week my sweet husband, Walter, needed to go to  Texas Woman's University to a meeting. He asked if I wanted to go with him, and since I hadn't been on campus in a number of years I decided to go along. At first I thought I would just sit somewhere quiet and read, but then we parked near the bookstore. You know what that means! Well, of course I HAD to go in and look around. Now, it has been 14 years since we graduated from TWU, but I still got a thrill when I walked through the doors. One of the best thrills was that I was not there to spend hundreds of dollars on text books (even though I have seriously thought about going back to school to work on my doctorate). As I walked around I really tried not to go over to the books. I knew I did not NEED any new books, but I could not control myself. I walked over and the very first book I saw was yelling my name, not calling mind you, but YELLING for me to pick it up. It must have known that once I picked it up and started reading through the table of contents there would be no turning back. Boy, am I that easy of a mark?!? I guess so. Here is the cover of the book that now lives in our home.

The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy:
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Aristotle, Locke
Edited by William Irwin and Dean A. Kowalski

For those  who know my family well, or even if you just casually know us I guess, you will see why this book just HAD to come home with me! My sweet son is Sheldon Cooper! Not really, but he has a lot of the same characteristics (good and bad) of this Big Bang Theory character. We love the show and can hardly watch a rerun without MY little Sheldon saying the dialogue along with the actors.

I have to say, this book came to me at an important time in my life, all joking aside. I enjoyed the philosophy class I took in college (although not at TWU, the other university in town, UNT). Since that class so many years ago, I have not really thought about reading a book on philosophy. I have by no means finished reading the book. I am slowly absorbing the information and actually highlighting passages that I want to remember and refer to later. I know this sounds a little ridiculous, but this book has made me understand some issues that I have been dealing with in my personal life. You probably think I'm crazy, but it is true. The way the authors make connections between the philosophers statements of so long ago, specifically Aristotle, and the relationships and antics of the BBT characters is wonderful. 

Earlier in the year, my son presented a speech on Shakespeare. He had been working on this speech since last summer. It was his Academic Decathlon speech for competition and very important to him. Seeing my little boy grow into a young man and create has amazed me. I know you are probably wondering why I am including this randomness, but I do have a point. His speech was about Shakespeare's writings and how so many people just don't "get" him. (I being one of them.) I was amazed how he developed his speech around the wonderful productions he has been a part of through the Stolen Shakespeare Guild by making the connection between the entertainment of the days when Shakespeare's plays were debuting and the television of now. He made reference to The Big Bang Theory and Love's Labour's Lost, Two and a Half Men and A Comedy of Errors , even CSI and Othello and Julius Cesar.  The same is true for the above mentioned book. We might not always understand the information from the scholars of long ago but when connections are made for us based on the things we know and love it is so much easier to understand.

By the way, this book will fit into my 2012 Summer Reading Challenge...non-fiction!