What makes a person cool? Is it the clothes they wear? Maybe it's the car they drive! Could it be the tag on your clothes? Maybe.......... Or maybe it's your cell phone. The more things it can do the cooler it makes you. Oh no, I think it must either be how big your house is or how many recreational vehicles you have.
In a world as crazy as the one we live in I am determined to teach my children that cool is not what you have or what you wear. The other day my oldest son Avery and I had an interesting talk. Avery is struggling with popularity. Avery has always been well- liked. I can still remember his first days in kindergarten. Everyone wanted to be his friend. The funny thing is...... He really didn't care who he was friends with. As the years have passed this has continued to be the case. Now he is in high school and he is starting to realize how important it is to choose good friends. The problem that he is facing is that too many kids that are not making good choices are applying to be his friends.
The first weeks of school all the girls were asking him for his cell phone number. What a disappointment this must have been for all of them to find out Avery doesn't have one. Really I'm not kidding! I have a fourteen- year- old son that is popular and he doesn't have a cell phone. And he won't have one either. No, this is not some kind of punishment. My kids know that if they want a cell phone when they grow up, they can buy one. Until then, they are more then welcome to use the home phone. Can you believe that? I must be some mean mother that doesn't care about her children's needs.
Anyway, Avery has really struggled with all of the bad choices he sees kids making at school. Apparently the more poor choices you make the cooler you are. He has a kind heart so he wants to be kind to everyone. But lately he feels like he needs to state his values to others a little more clearly. However he's afraid of how they will react toward him. Kids are always talking so trashy around him and he really doesn't like it. In fact ,he was feeling really bad. The other day he was mowing the neighbors yard and he tripped over something. Immediately the words he heard the other kids saying at school were stuck in his head and he kept repeating them in his mind. This really made him angery with himself. I'm glad he feels comfortable telling Cesar and I these things. Here's what I told him........ "Don't be afraid to take a stand for what you think is right. If people around you are using bad language tell them that offends you and will they please not talk like that around you." He really didn't think he could find the courage to do this. I promised him that he would gain a lot of respect from his peers if he did.
A few days passed and we talked again. Avery was much happier. He had taken our challenge and the kids were responding positively to him. In fact it's been
sometime now and everyone knows that it's not okay to use bad language around him.
Avery, you are a great kid! I know that I don't tell you enough how proud I am of you. Keep making good choices. You are the real "COOL"! There is nothing cooler then a person that knows who they are and what they believe. You are proof of that. I know that many people are looking up to you and want to pattern their lives after your's. Always remember this. I love you so much! You are my hero!
Mom
