It’s a time of zits and angst.
Yet it is also a time of hope and passion and that’s why I love working with teens.
Free Body Lotion – Forget It!
Today I received an advertising email offering free body lotion. I would actually prefer it if they took some of my body lotion away. It would be more enticing. I am having a day where materialism is sickening me. I feel that I want to shed most of my possessions because they are just a drag. We all just accumulate too much. What is it all for?
I actually cried today over an exhibition of rampant materialism as I perceived it, but I think I am feeling quite unwell at the moment so am possible more sensitive.
My year 9 class is studying poverty right now, so I wonder if this is having an effect on me. I have naturally been discussing the Millennium Goals with those around me. When we had the conversation in our curriculum team, some of the adults complained they were impossible and ridiculous. They didn’t believe it was possible. This is why I love teenagers. They were optimistic and enthusiastic about it. They wanted to know what they could do to make it happen. They felt certain it was achievable and it was important to them to make it happen.
She’s Leaving Home
Today we are taking the last of my daughters belongings to her new residence. She is moving to the city to go to Uni. She is a competent, independent young woman and I am immensely proud of her and confident that she will make a great life for herself and will be diligent and successful in her studies. I imagine she will have learning experiences about living away from home and I feel nervous and excited for her.
Most of all I will miss her. She is a fabulous daughter. I have adored her since the moment of her birth and this new letting go, just like the previous steps she has made into the world, I must admit make me long for the time when she was a toddler with wild curly hair and a trusting smile, asking plenty of questions, smiling a lot and taking great delight in everything around her. The tickles and cuddles are less frequent and the questions are harder to answer, even though they are more interesting now.