Stay stubborn

There was once a little boy who cried in first grade when I made him do his assigned speed reading. It stressed him out so much to be timed that I would allow him to put his book and then his hands on his bed while his little feet ran in place while he read. That same little boy cried some more when he had to do a lot of math homework in 3rd and 4th grade. But I always made him do it no matter how much he wailed.

When that little boy turned into a teenager, he would often turn in work late, only turning it in because I found out and made him. This young man would wonder aloud what the point was of most of what he was learning in school. He did not see the relevance of algebra in real life.

I told him it did not matter if he thought it relevant. He still had to do it because it was required of him to graduate high school, and without graduating high school, he wouldn’t have much of a chance at life.

Is it any wonder that I worried when he went off to college that he may not do his homework without me breathing down his neck? Well, he did.

In fact, in his first semester he made a 4.0. From then on, he made mostly A’s and B’s and graduated this May with his Associate’s in Industrial Manufacturing and Emerging Technologies and a couple of certificates to be a technician with opportunities to start out making more money than I’ve ever made.

Not only did he graduate, but he graduated with an award of Outstanding Student in his particular program.

I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of him.

It was as if he had matured overnight, but I really think all that pushing he got from me finally sunk in. It also helped that he went to a school that has high academic standards.

In addition, my husband, his step-father, insisted on making him work and pay for his own vehicle. We also had him help pay for his college. Having to use your own money for stuff makes you value it more. I think he realized if he failed, then it would cost him and his parents more money. He also takes very good care of his pickup truck.

I am very thankful for my husband’s push in helping him to learn responsibility for his own things.

My son, my oldest child, surprised me with his newfound ambition to do well.

I knew he was capable. I knew he was intelligent. Because when he put effort into his work, he usually excelled. Even during his last semester, he took pride in his work, making high grades in Speech and Art, classes he would typically say were useless.

So, to all you parents out there with children at home who tell you they hate school, who fight you when it’s time to sit down and do homework - stay stubborn.

It’s worth it to stay on top of their grades and assignments and to push them and make them angry at you.

Even if they don’t do particularly well, it will make them better and stronger people and prepare them for a life where they will most certainly have to do things they do not like doing in order to be successful, or to simply survive.

Perhaps some day you too will get to see that child, who now drives you crazy at times, walk the stage as a college graduate or be successful at something and learn to make a living to support himself and possibly a family.

Kimberly Jones is a Nolan County native, former news reporter, writer, wife, mother, and lover of small-town life.

If you have an idea you would like to share with her, email her at kimberlyjgray74@gmail.com.