[jelli]

Paul Harvey Writes:





We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them

worse.

For my grandchildren, I'd like better.



I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and

homemade ice

cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.



I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn

honesty by

being cheated.



I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the

car.



And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are

sixteen.



It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your

old

dog put to sleep.



I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.



I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister.

And

it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the

room,but

when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I

hope

you let him.



When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to

tag

along, I hope you'll let him/her.



I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you

live

in a town where you can do it safely.



On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your

driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with

someone

as uncool as your Mom.



If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one

instead

of buying one



I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.



When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and

subtract

in your head.



I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on

a

boygirl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what

ivory

soap tastes like.



May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove

and

stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.



I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And

if a

friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your

friend.





I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa

and go

fishing with your Uncle.



May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.



I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your

neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at

Hannukah/Christmas

time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.



These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work

and

happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.