Life lessons from a geek part 6
Steemit has been absolutely amazing. I keep finding new reasons to love it. The latest being that my writing has lead to more entertaining dinner conversations. Well we used to call it "dinner". Now it's more of a game. One of the worst games in the history of time called: "For the love of all that is good and holy will you just eat your vegetables?!" (Is there an audio book read by Samuel L Jackson on this? If not, there should be).
Tonight my wife and I steadied our resolve as we prepared to begin the battle of wills (steadied our resolve = poured 2 tall glasses of wine). Everyone at the table knew where this was headed, so we tried to squeeze as much joy out of the pregame chitchat as possible. The conversations are usually pretty light hearted. My kids, give suggestions and ask questions. My wife and I try to sneak in the little life lessons we trying to teach our 11 year old son and 9 year old daughter. It's normally good wholesome family fun.
Tonight however, my kids finally confronted me about something that had been brewing for a few days.
They cornered me, and began to interrogate me. They kept repeating the same question. I felt like poor defenseless Superman as Batman repeatedly growled "Martha! Why Did you say that name?" (Except the scene in my kitchen actually made sense. By the way, who the heck calls their own mother by her first name?)
The question: "Dad, why haven't you written about Dumbledore yet?"
The only variation was when my son said, "Come on dad, he's the best!". "Yeah dad. He's awesome", my daughter added.
I had gone to my happy place to avoid the badgering. These statements brought me back.
They had just given me an actual excuse to use a line that every teacher wishes he could use in real life. I asked, "Can you explain that a little more?" And they fell for it! My son jumped in. "Dad he is one of the greatest 'literacy' characters ever (he meant "literary"... but he was excited and on a roll so I let that go until he took a breath). "Dad, he is like a Swiss army knife of characters. He is everything that every good character is... all rolled into one. " "What do you mean son?", I asked. (Ha! I knew what he meant, but I just wanted him to have to back up his argument. These teaching moments don't come along everyday you know.) "Well, he fills whatever role is needed. He's the comic relief, the hero, the wise old man, the risk taker, the crazy guy, the one with the most good quotes, the adventurer, and the protector". He made pretty good argument.
My daughter shot him a look that said, "You are so silly for missing the point." She then added, "He's all the best words to describe a person. He's kind, funny, nice, helpful, hopeful, brave, silly and he loves candy". (Her ability to judge character is why I'm confident she will choose a great person to marry some day... obviously one who loves candy).
I replied, "You see kids, I've already written about Harry Potter characters a few times. I'm trying to be more diverse. I don't want to get stuck on one topic. I am also trying to pick characters who are a little more "under the radar" like Neville and Mrs. Weasley (I even made air quotes. My kids love air quotes. Especially my daughter who doesn't quite know when to use them). Dumbledore is just way too obvious. Besides, there are just way too many things to write about him. It would be too long for a blog. It would be really hard to narrow it down."
My son laughed and asked, "Do you want to do what is easy or what is right?"
Curses! My boy had turned my own weapon against me! That line is my absolute favorite! I have said it to each of them at least 500 times. They had me.
must choose between what is easy and what is right.”
Man I love that line!
Those words are at the heart of everything we are trying to teach our children. If the only lesson my children remember, is that they should always do the right thing, especially when it is difficult, then my wife and I have done our job. Every other lesson fits under this one umbrella. The rest of them simply fill in details and answer the question "what is right?". If my kids are the kind of people who try to figure out what is right, and then act accordingly, I will be the proudest father ever.
I made a quick deal with them. "If you eat your vegetables, I'll write about Dumbledore tonight."
Dumbledore's Army 1. Dad 0.
So as they ate their hamster-sized portion of peas, I asked them for some more examples. In-between nibbles, they obliged.
After listening to them rattle off examples, I noticed two things. Number one: they weren't eating their vegetables. Number two: perhaps the first lesson Dumbledore teaches, is that you must always "practice what you preach".
For my other geek life lessons, I have been able to identify a few "ah-ha" moments that one can use as a concrete example. But when it comes to Dumbledore, there are just too many. Each book has examples of Dumbledore following his own advice to choose what is right, rather than what is easy. (It seems my kids knew them all.)
I couldn't possibly list them all, so I asked my kids to come up with the top five lessons they learned from Dumbledore (I needed to leave some space for my special number six). Since this activity bought them even more time to not eat their vegetables, they obliged.
1. Discrimation and Racism are wrong.
2. Makes sacrifices for others.
in an effort to gain what he and Harry need in order to defeat Voldemort.
He continuously fights through the pain so Harry won't have to."
3. Look for the the best in people.
This includes Hagrid, Snape, Malfoy, Madame Trelawney, and Ron (who is named a Prefect... instead of Harry).
4. Own up to your mistakes.
my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger. (HBP 197)”
5. Have hope and focus on the good things in your life.
My son was right. Dumbledore is a Swiss Army knife of altruistic characteristics. But there is one that really hits home for me.
6. Everyone belongs and has value.
Although he may be the one man band of geek life lessons, as a special education teacher, I have a soft spot for how Dumbledore treated Remus Lupin. When Remus was five, he was attacked and turned into a werewolf. His wizard parents were very concerned that he would never be able to attend Hogwarts with such a condition. They tried everything they could to cure him. But they failed. When his eleventh birthday rolled around, no one thought he had a chance of being accepted at Hogwarts. Excluding this child would have been easy. But Dumbledore, the Headmaster, chose to do what was right. Dumbledore "took precautions", created a special room in which Remus could transform, and welcomed the boy into the school. It's more difficult to educate someone who needs special accommodations... but it is also right. Dumbledore didn't throw out this little boy because he was different. He valued, nurtured and educated him. Eventually, he even hired him as a teacher. And of course, Lupin made him proud. Kids need to learn that. Kids need to truly believe that every person, no matter how much help he or she needs, has value. and should be respected. Dumbledore made sure to look for and find this value in everyone....because it was right. I truly hope my children will too.
Well, it's been about 4 hours. Better go check and see if my kids ate their seven peas...
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