My dad worked like a coal miner when I was a kid. He'd leave early in the morning, well before I woke, up and return home covered in his day's work 12+ hours later. He was a cook by trade but not, I believe, by passion. He grew up in an orphanage and made his way through life without an education or many other breaks in life.
For him, as I suppose he had me know, his goal was to set me off right. But I noticed some other things that would dazzle him when I was a kid and some way or another that left an impression on me to this day.
One thing that I thought was, you've made it when you get a nice TV. In the early 90s he got us a 36" TV with picture in picture and a matching stand to put the VCR and Nintendo in. We were set. The Blue Jays never looked so crisp. I can still remember playing Super Mario Kart with that TV and years later having that possession come with us across BC when we moved.
Later in life when I got my first post-university job I knew exactly what I wanted to spend money on: a TV. It took me some time to part with the one I had in my apartment though, since it was the very same TV my dad bought in the early nineties!
The point of this? Well, for one, be mindful of what we impress on children about success and our struggles. They might wholly misinterpret the whole situation. And second, remember what you believed as a child about success. You might possess more wealth than you could've ever imagined already. Don't rush past that achievement, in fact reflect on it!
For him, as I suppose he had me know, his goal was to set me off right. But I noticed some other things that would dazzle him when I was a kid and some way or another that left an impression on me to this day.
One thing that I thought was, you've made it when you get a nice TV. In the early 90s he got us a 36" TV with picture in picture and a matching stand to put the VCR and Nintendo in. We were set. The Blue Jays never looked so crisp. I can still remember playing Super Mario Kart with that TV and years later having that possession come with us across BC when we moved.
Later in life when I got my first post-university job I knew exactly what I wanted to spend money on: a TV. It took me some time to part with the one I had in my apartment though, since it was the very same TV my dad bought in the early nineties!
The point of this? Well, for one, be mindful of what we impress on children about success and our struggles. They might wholly misinterpret the whole situation. And second, remember what you believed as a child about success. You might possess more wealth than you could've ever imagined already. Don't rush past that achievement, in fact reflect on it!
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