Lowering Expectations

I wasn't going to write today, because I have a rather long todo list. However, a topic came up at our house that really has me steamed.

It's raining here today (as it did yesterday), and so my son and I are not "working" again today. The way my son put it was, "When we work, I work hard, and when I come home I'm too tired to do anything with my brothers. So I'm in 'rest' mode today." The irony of this revelation was that, it seems to me, very little is expected of today's youth, but they feel like they are working too hard.

There is a company called Despair, Inc. (http://www.despair.com) that sells "demotivation" posters. Their motto is "Increasing Success by Lowering Expectations". Their purpose, of course, is to mock the ubiquitous motivational posters found in America's corporate offices. For this I applaud them. However, has their motto been secretly adopted by us in order to accept the time-wasting practices of today's teens?

Bidden by us, my sons took a seat at the end of our bed while my wife and I launched into a dissertation on how long our school day was as compared to theirs, and how hard we worked (my wife on the farm, and me delivering papers and slinging tacos) once school was let out. And then there was homework!

My purpose is not to be too hard on my children, because it is true that they work harder than most their age. They are extraordinary! What I'm pointing out is that "extraordinary" doesn't mean what it used to. A person doesn't have to put forth as much effort today to be extraordinary as he did in my day, and, to me, that's no laughing matter.

Can I get an AMEN?

Suddenly, I can hear the voice of my mother, laughing at me and asking, "Don't you have work to do?" I'm going back to my todo list now.