A while back, I wrote/blogged about the fact that PJ is in the ethnic minority at her school [and every school she’s ever attended], yet she’s at the top of her class, academically.  You know, sort of a pat on the back, but very much a proud Momma that believes my kid can do anything!  And when I say, anything…I really mean it.

Anyway, I read an article today that discussed the subject of “Black students and what we, as a society, expect”.  Good article, but it wasn’t till I finished the last sentence that I thought…NO SHIT!  “What DO we expect?”  I mean, if our kids are brown, white, black, yellow, mixed, whatever….the expectation should be the same. And, more importantly, the goal should be the same.  The push should be just as hard and therefore, the results will be similar.  Right?

I mean, the fact she’s Black or Hispanic doesn’t even enter our minds when we envision the future of our child.  When we take our girls to the library every week and teach PJ the Dewey Decimal system, when we revel in her “joy” of reading and watch her imagination become endless, our expectation never changes.  We believe she can reach any goal she so sets her mind to.  And she believes that one never stops learning.  You see…you can never get, “too smart”.

Here’s what I think…when a child is exposed, they catch the germ, right?  So, whatever the exposure, they will get it.  So, if you expose them to nothing but negativity, that is what they will get from life.  If you expose them to the arts, to museums, to culture, to learning, to the library [it’s free], then that is what they will grow in their hearts.  They will grow to love all that will enable them to grow beyond their surroundings [good or bad].

This is just a theory.  And I’m definitely not saying I’m perfect, nor is PJ or Ken or even MJ [hard headed, but not perfect].  But what I can say is this….you will never be able to say, we’re not tenacious.  And I promise you this, you can believe that what we say is what we mean and what we do, we do to the best of our ability, no matter the pain.

Yes, we expect a lot our of our kids and so should you.  They will be better adults for it.  IMHO. [I guess it’s true, I am the Evil Mom with Devil horns.  Ah, well…I’ve been called worse].