Nothing you learn is ever wasted. –A Sage

Dear Kid,

Once upon a time, there was a Dad. This was way back before he turned into a grandpa and learned how to lie on the floor and let you feed him Cheerios.

He was a pretty good Dad, and despite the fact that I was a teenager and he was my father I listened to him more than I let on.

One of the things he once said was “Nothing you learn is ever wasted.” The learning may not always be tons of fun. (Oh, that’s how gravity works.) It may not always be immediately obvious how or when you will use a piece of information. (Who is ever going to ask me about strudel?)  You may even roll your eyes when you hear a fact-let. (Whatever, Mother.)

I’m sure there are scientific-types who would point out that every time you learn something synapses in your brain develop and your brain becomes more powerful. I’m not one of those people, so I won’t point that out.

I’m sure there are bakers and strudel aficionados who would point out that learning about strudel is always a good thing. I certainly agree that going along for a taste test would be fun, but that has nothing to do with what I’m talking about.

I bring this up because we are approaching Choosing Your Classes for Next Year deadlines. I get that as a freshman, there are limited options. You’ll need to take all sorts of intro classes and pre-reqs and freshman requirements. For all I know, you won’t have any options at all first semester.

But college learning doesn’t only take place in the classroom. As you hear a professor go off on a tangent, don’t get impatient to get back to the subject matter. When a friend tells you about a class they are taking in a totally unrelated field, listen. When you have the opportunity to attend a random event, go.

When you have the choice to pick classes not directly related to your major, consider the breadth of options. Find something that sounds fun. Choose to be a well-educated human.

It may not be immediately obvious how or when you’ll use American Sign Language or Secrets to Baking Strudel or Philosophies of the French Impressionists. That’s ok. Learning is good, and it’s never wasted. Besides, you might get to taste great strudel.

Happy Father’s Day,

Love, Mom

Mortar Boards the way the world sees them

Dear Kid,

Once upon a time, you were born. Since then, it’s been a series of graduations. You graduated from pre-school, you graduated from Kindergarten, you graduated from training wheels (although there were fewer attendees for that one). We sat through (fairly short) speeches. We clapped politely for other graduates. We cheered for you. And we celebrated. Often with fabulous, age-appropriate desserts.

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that ‘individuality’ is the key to success. ~Robert Orben

It is time to plan the next graduation celebration. I’ve been thinking about it. I suspect the speeches will be longer, the cheering more exuberant. I’m pretty sure we will need fabulous, age-appropriate desserts.

Mortar Boards the way Pinterest sees them

Fortunately, there is help for me (yeah, yeah, not enough. I get it.) Pinterest is brimming with graduation-themed pins. Party ideas, cap decorating ideas, party decorating ideas, and food ideas. I love Pinterest and plan to steal borrow pay homage to at least a few of these ideas. That is, if I can pry myself away from Pinterest long enough to actually do anything.

The candy idea got me thinking about mortar boards. Who came up with this particular look as being a great fashion option? I still don’t know because everything that I looked at about mortar boards was serious and boring. Not my fave combination. I can’t find anything even mildly amusing about mortar boards. I looked. I thought there would be a treasure trove of hilarity out there. Nope. Nada.

Graduation: a ritual event where they award you a diploma, in the hope that you will have learned enough to be able to read it.

The only mildly funny thing (which really isn’t all that funny, imho) is that the color for business school tassels is “drab.” That is the name of the color, not some wisecracking description of the color.

Now before anyone gets all bent out of shape let me point out that both of my tassels are (shudder) drab. I discovered this when we were getting ready to graduate from Boston University (Go Terriers). There it was, a tassel labeled “Drab.” Who came up with this color?! Seriously?? We have marketing people, we have creative people, we have people who sit around and think up fabulous names for nail polish and paint, and the best someone could come up with for the tassel for business school is “drab.” Even saying the word sounds unhappy.

Drab. I kid you not.

Sigh. Not that the color of a tassel is any reason to pick a field of study. It’s not. Not at all. Still, if things work out so that the tassel is pretty…

Have a very un-drab day, Kid.

Love, Mom

This photo has nothing to do with anything except that it really amuses me

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” -Charles Swindoll

Dear Kid,

Who knew life had a recipe? Aren’t you glad you’re going to college to learn things like that?

Of course, my general philosophy in the kitchen is Start with a recipe and then ignore it. Followed by the corollary Get someone else to clean up. And the all around When in doubt, add chocolate or garlic (but not both).

Not sure what Charles would have to say about that. I just looked him up and Chuck (he really does go by Chuck–I’m not being rude) is an evangelical Christian pastor and he’s got some pretty dandy, non-religious quotes on life. Pretty sure we’ll be seeing his name again.

Spring is clearly bi-polar this year. As far as the tulips are concerned, spring has been here for a while. As far as the rest of us are concerned–HA! Pi is rather annoyed that it isn’t really shorts weather yet. That hasn’t stopped her from wearing shorts, mind you.

Stay warm. Enjoy Spring. React well to life.

Love, Mom

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

Dear Kid,

You are sitting at the kitchen table finishing up homework. I know you are not happy with the way you played volleyball tonight, but as far as I could see you have nothing to be upset about.

Maybe that’s just mom eyes. I think I watched the games sets pretty carefully (and yes, I’m still learning the correct terminology). The thing is you are playing an entirely new sport (new for you, I mean) and I am so impressed with the attitude you have about trying and learning and being positive (except for right now).

You are a team player in the truest sense of the term. And I couldn’t be more proud.

Love, Mom

“The consequences of today are determined by the actions of the past. To change your future, alter your decisions today.” ~ Anonymous

Dear Kid,

I think this is a great quote. It reminds me that I am always in control of things in my life (with the possible exceptions of your father and eating too much chocolate–probably not in that order).

But it also reminds me of Pi and her stumbling (tripping? falling flat on her nose?) over pronouncing the word ‘consequences.’ Not sure why she had so much trouble with it–maybe it’s because it’s a long word, or it contains the letter “u,” or she tripped herself up once and never managed to untrip. In her world for a long time, the word was “kwonsequences.”

Whether the word should contain a ‘w’ or not, remember that the consequences of your actions are often tremendously difficult to undo. Sometimes that’s a good thing; sometimes not so much. It’s relatively easy to buy a new pair of jeans if you should spill a little acid on them; it’s much more difficult to fix if you spill the same acid down your throat. See what I mean?

Love, Mom