One Of My Favorites From Paul Harvey

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them
worse.
For my grandchildren, I'd like better.

I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and
homemade
ice
cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn
honesty
by
being cheated.

I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the
car.

And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are
sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your
old
dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister.
And
it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,
but
when
he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I
hope you
let him.

When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to
tag
along, I hope you'll let him/her.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that
you
live
in a town where you can do it safely.

On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your
driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with
someone
as
uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one
instead
of buying one.

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and
subtract
in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush
on a
boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what
ivory
soap
tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove
and
stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And
if a
friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your
friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa
and
go
fishing with your Uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your
neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at
Hannukah/Christmas time
when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard
work and
happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.