A Lesson from Steinbeck

I just need to do a shout out for my daughter Amanda, the "problem child".  She just received Dean's Scholar Honors from SJSU.

She has accomplished things I could never dream of.  I am in awe of her discipline and resolve.  And her talent.

As her mother, high school was not a fun experience.  She was wild and rebellious.  She snuck out and partied.  She got very average grades and academic achievement was not on her priority list.  She counted minutes until she could legally leave home and get out from under my strict rule.  (I counted seconds).  We did not get along.  At all.

As it turns out, what she needed most was to get out from under my control.  Once freed, she turned into everything I had wanted her to be.  She is smart and lovely and kind and good.

And I guess what I learned watching this metamorphosis is that she always wanted the same things for herself that I wanted for her - she just couldn't be told that she must.  

Not "Thou shalt".  "Thou mayest".   Amanda got it.  Took me a while.