Choices are the method by which we find out what is really important to us. Unless you have the ability to weigh options and make a choice, how do you know what is worth having and what is worth giving up?  That is why we should not give everything to our children.  If we do, they will never feel the euphoria of having what they really want and need over what they can just have.

A summer facing reality

Allison, my oldest, is a rising sophomore in college. This was her summer of facing reality.

Since her freshman year in high school, we have told her that we would pay for her college tuition, housing and meal plans. She would be responsible for all of the other stuff–clothes, eating out, living off campus, spring break trips, gas money, car upkeep, you name it. Continue reading