Howard Stern, David Letterman and my Son in Grade 3



Pre-School, Kindergarten and ...... Grade 3

I watched Letterman the other night. Howard Stern was on. When Stern wasn't promoting his show, "America's Got Talent", they discussed some more personal issues, including their children. All of Stern's children are grown now. David Letterman has a son in Grade 3 - so along with Diastema, that's 2 things Letterman and I have in common.

Letterman made an interesting comment about his son Harry. He said,

"I was fine when he was in kindergarten. I was fine with Grade 1. I was fine with Grade 2. But Grade 3 .... I just want it to stop. I just feel the world is filled with goons and I want to protect him from them."

I can relate to the talk show's angst. Adam is in Grade 3, and it feels different for me than Grade 2 - Grade 2 sounded small - Grade 3 sounds much older. Maybe, because I have clear memories of Grade 3 myself and blurry uneven memories of my life before that. Now my son will be going through an age I can remember.

I also want to protect him. But, I can't. He will get hurt. He will get picked on. He will be made to feel different.

Not just in Grade 3 - but throughout his life, just like throughout everyone's life, we encounter pain, rejection and hurt. And no one can protect us from it - my Dad couldn't protect me - and I can't protect my children.

All I can do is provide a safe environment at home and when I'm around them. Bind up their wounds when they are hurt. Hopefully help them to build up enough inner strength to withstand the storms that will come.

Along with the nervousness of what lies ahead for Adam, there is also corresponding excitement. He gets to do so many things for the first time! Joy and Sorrow sometimes run parallel paths in our lives. Perhaps the key is to not lose the fulcrum that keeps the scales in balance. Perhaps the fulcrum is family and community which helps us maintain when pushed too much to one side.


Comments

Mike Todd said…
I'm not so sure they're parallel paths but concurrent. Sometimes they're hard to tell apart, so you better appreciate them both.
2:53 AM
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