I’m not much of a night owl anymore. The older I get the more value I put on sleep. And I try very hard to be in bed as close to 10 pm as I can. Hoping for a good 7 hours. But every 3 years I have a senior and every fall of their senior year it means scholarship and essay crunch time. I do not write essays or do work for my kids. I’ve heard other parents say they do, not seeing the harm. I want my kids’ achievements to truly be theirs. But this means sitting in a room with them, far past my bed time, listening to them brainstorm through essay prompts asking me questions or for my opinion every now and again. If I wasn’t here, they would probably just go to bed and by morning forget the roll they were on. So I stay up with them some, in case I’m needed for a small nugget of information or validation of a well written paragraph.
After doing this with 3 of my, now, 4 adult kids I’ve seen them evolve from decent writers who needed me for a quick edit or read for validation to impressive writers who only proofed themselves as time went on getting scholarships with zero involvement from me. This makes me proud. This is THEIR growth. And now I’m seeing it with child #4 and her writing ability already blows me away.
This is why we can’t do things for our children. Do them with them but never for them. Teach them to fish!!
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