They say that kids have their personalities well developed by the time they enter school. For the longest time I thought that was a bunch of baloney. I'm now starting to believe it. My two oldest are in 8th and 6th grade and I think their behavior patters are pretty well developed. They're both good kids, but predictible.
I still remember telling my 6th grader a few years ago that "the end" is not a sentence--yes, he had to write a paragraph for school and did the bare minimum.
Today, he's the first one home from school and one of his jobs is to shovel snow. I don't expect him to clear the driveway. But, if the plow has come by I expect him to clear the base of the driveway so that a car can make it in. And, we have just an inch or two of light fluffy snow, I expect him to clear that.
It's been a snowy winter. And a winter full of excuses. "I didn't notice that the plow came" lasted for a couple weeks. Now, his trick is to make a "path" for my car tires, figuring why shovel more than he absolutely has to in order for me to get my car in the driveway. He actually measured the distance between my tires to make sure the "path" was the right width. Ingenious, but lazy.
phil, that is too funny! it makes me wonder why you hear so often "it's never too late to change." i think changing some traits about ourselves is harder than it seems if we've had them all our lives!
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