It's been great to finally have my boys around. It's also apparent that we live different lives and they are accustomed to different things. The homestead life was not one of them LOL!! Nevertheless, when they arrived they have had some interest in the workings of how we do things. My challenge was to find the warm coal, nurse it and try to start the fire.
First, I didn't even bombard them with the garden... Well that's not totally true... There was that one time.. when I intercepted a conversation from my oldest and he was talking about being a drug dealer and a gangsta... I got his butt up at 3am and gave him a head lamp and had him turnin dirt, wheel barreling compost, pullin weeds, preparing the raise beds, clean out the chicken coop and re stack the perfectly good pile of wood... After which, that evening around midnight when he was exhausted and tired I had him jump in the car and I drove him to the heart of the ghetto and told him to get out... Since he wanted to be a thug and didn't like the way he was living... He just broke down and cried.. he didn't want to get out.. so I seized the opportunity to build him back up. After that incident my son came to me a few days later and said.."dad you changed my life, I had a lot of time to think while i was working the garden and I'm going to change" and you know what he did... This first marking period that he entered.. he is poised to making straight As'. I'm extremely happy.
Sooooo, with all this goin on my main goal is to introduce my kids to the homestead life..and have them adopt it as there own.. First I identified there likes... My oldest son taught himself Spanish and he speaks and writes it fluently, after having that heart to heart with him, I helped him realize that he should attempt to be an interpreter and learn as many languages as he can.. currently he is teaching himself Arabic and its amazing how fast he is progressing.. I wish I had these interest as a 13 yr old. My youngest son breaths, eats, sleep Dragon Ball Z.. in my opinion its a Cult!! These kids are obsessed with it.
I had a mentor once tell me when I worked at a school for emotionally challenged kids.. in order to make any progress.. you have to find what the child loves and use it against him.With that mindset.. I approached my oldest and told him that I understand that he loves cultural and is interested in people and music and that hr wants to travel all around the world..sooooo before you go there we are going to learn everything we can learn here.. I told him there are two things that you must do when traveling for the local people to accept you as friend and family and that is love their food and listen to their music... You don't have to speak a word... Because your facial expressions will tell whether your sincere or not.
With that being said I told him I want him to do some research and find 20 vegetables that Spanish speaking people absolutely love and we will grow them this year and prepare dishes..also I asked him to identify vegetables that people from the middle east enjoy and we will grow and prepare those dishes as well. With my youngest I told him.. before you play Dragon Ball Z.. tell me 5 phrases in Japanese of how your...Winning, how your kicking someone else's butt, no one is stronger than me, I am the best, and you guys suck!! He laughed uncontrollably and believe it or not he asked my wife and she helped him out.. he is now on his way to learning the language.. in addition I asked him to identify 20 vegetables Japanese people love and enjoy..
So that was the project.. I found the warm coal, nursed it, started a small flame and threw gasoline on it. Now we are on our way to learning, growing and experiencing culture. It's gonna be a fun journey :)
First, I didn't even bombard them with the garden... Well that's not totally true... There was that one time.. when I intercepted a conversation from my oldest and he was talking about being a drug dealer and a gangsta... I got his butt up at 3am and gave him a head lamp and had him turnin dirt, wheel barreling compost, pullin weeds, preparing the raise beds, clean out the chicken coop and re stack the perfectly good pile of wood... After which, that evening around midnight when he was exhausted and tired I had him jump in the car and I drove him to the heart of the ghetto and told him to get out... Since he wanted to be a thug and didn't like the way he was living... He just broke down and cried.. he didn't want to get out.. so I seized the opportunity to build him back up. After that incident my son came to me a few days later and said.."dad you changed my life, I had a lot of time to think while i was working the garden and I'm going to change" and you know what he did... This first marking period that he entered.. he is poised to making straight As'. I'm extremely happy.
Sooooo, with all this goin on my main goal is to introduce my kids to the homestead life..and have them adopt it as there own.. First I identified there likes... My oldest son taught himself Spanish and he speaks and writes it fluently, after having that heart to heart with him, I helped him realize that he should attempt to be an interpreter and learn as many languages as he can.. currently he is teaching himself Arabic and its amazing how fast he is progressing.. I wish I had these interest as a 13 yr old. My youngest son breaths, eats, sleep Dragon Ball Z.. in my opinion its a Cult!! These kids are obsessed with it.
I had a mentor once tell me when I worked at a school for emotionally challenged kids.. in order to make any progress.. you have to find what the child loves and use it against him.With that mindset.. I approached my oldest and told him that I understand that he loves cultural and is interested in people and music and that hr wants to travel all around the world..sooooo before you go there we are going to learn everything we can learn here.. I told him there are two things that you must do when traveling for the local people to accept you as friend and family and that is love their food and listen to their music... You don't have to speak a word... Because your facial expressions will tell whether your sincere or not.
With that being said I told him I want him to do some research and find 20 vegetables that Spanish speaking people absolutely love and we will grow them this year and prepare dishes..also I asked him to identify vegetables that people from the middle east enjoy and we will grow and prepare those dishes as well. With my youngest I told him.. before you play Dragon Ball Z.. tell me 5 phrases in Japanese of how your...Winning, how your kicking someone else's butt, no one is stronger than me, I am the best, and you guys suck!! He laughed uncontrollably and believe it or not he asked my wife and she helped him out.. he is now on his way to learning the language.. in addition I asked him to identify 20 vegetables Japanese people love and enjoy..
So that was the project.. I found the warm coal, nursed it, started a small flame and threw gasoline on it. Now we are on our way to learning, growing and experiencing culture. It's gonna be a fun journey :)
4 comments:
Absolutely fantastic the way you handled the situation with your oldest. I can't tell you how this has made my day. Why? Because I have been reading nothing but BAD news stories these past few days and was seriously thinking NO ONE gives a dam (and yes, I know I spelled that wrong!) This is quite an uplifting story. ATW--the very best in the upcoming New Year to you, your wife and your sons. And thank you guys for being there for your kids. So many people AREN'T.
Sue-- Thanx!! It really means a lot and you are spot on. People Dont give a Dam:)!! Kids are running around doing whatever they want to and it goes back to the parents. My belief is if the kids are jacked up its because the parents are jacked up. Parents should be held accountable for the bad their kids do. These same parents are willing to take credit if their children do something outstanding and therefore should take full responibility when they are not contributing to society. This is a subject I am very passionate about and I don't hold anything back when I have to poke negligent parents in the chest for not taking care of their responsibility. Thanks again for your comment.
SUPERDAD!!!! Living on a world where you have to be mom and dad...this warms my heart. I know of few fathers that are that dedicated to their children's well being. I try my best to introduce my sons to different cultures' markets, restaurants, arts and so forth. My oldest is rather resistant because he was practically raised during a part of my life when I lived inside a very small box. It's sometimes difficult to get him to do somethings without a little force, but once it's done, I think he learns a few things, however resistant he may be. My little one loves to learn new and different things, so it's not as much of a push with him.
Kudos to you for steering and young vulnerable mind in the opposit directions of the mainstream!
Sorry...I meant A young vulnerable mind :-)
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