When my son Matt was in 8th grade, he decided to run for student council president. Before I share the outcome of the election, there are a couple of things you should know about my eldest son. Matt was a good kid, a really good kid, in fact. From the time he was a little guy, he was just a good kid ... a pleaser ... the type of kid who rarely got into mischief, and on the rare occasion that he did misbehave, he was always instantly remorseful and quite often confessed before I even knew he had done something wrong. Matt was very smart ... and still is ... he's a professor at a university in Canada. Now that I've given you a little insight into my intelligent, well-behaved son, let's get back to his desire to become student council president.
One of the requirements for the students who were competing to be elected as president was to give a speech at a assembly for their fellow students, and Matt took that part of the process very seriously. He spent hours and hours writing and rewriting what he would say when it was his turn on the stage, and he submitted it to the teacher who was charged with reviewing the speeches. After receiving the thumbs-up, my sweet son hunkered down in his room each evening after school as he memorized the content word for word. When the day finally arrived for Matt to stand before his fellow classmates and tell them why he should be chosen as their next student council president, he was nervous and confident at the same time. When I dropped him off at school before I headed to work, I wished him good luck and told him how proud I was of him and he was all smiles as he got out of car and waved goodbye.
I had just glanced at my watch and thought to myself that Matt should be finished with his speech when my phone rang, and I was quite surprised when a man introduced himself as the principle of Matt's junior high school. My surprise quickly migrated to shock as Mr. Principle told me that he was suspending Matt for several days and that he would be excluded from the election. I thought surely I wasn't hearing him correctly when he said that he was taking those actions because of the content of Matt's speech, but when I asked him to repeat what he said, he told me again that the content of Matt's speech was inappropriate. I asked to speak to Matt and when Mr. Principle said that my son was "indisposed at the moment," I sucked in all the air in my office as I said, "Put Matt on the phone now." It only took me a moment to realize that Matt was more than "indisposed" ... Matt was devastated and embarrassed and crying his heart out. He had never gotten into trouble at school ... he made straight A's ... he was a stinking good kid.
I'll spare you the details of our evening, but suffice it to say that I was angry ... I wasn't the least bit angry with Matt, mind you, but I was livid because of the punishment Mr. Principle had levied upon my INNOCENT son. That's right ... INNOCENT ... Matt did not do one thing wrong and he did not say one inappropriate word in his speech ... AND his speech had been approved by a faculty member. The next morning, I did something I had never done before and I've never done since ... I walked into Mr. Principle's office and I let loose on him in a big way. Trust me when I say that every single ounce of my mother lion instincts were in full roar that morning ... you bet they were. While Mr. Principle wouldn't reinstate Matt's candidacy in the election, he did back down on the suspension and apologized for making Matt cry.
I've learned a lot since that day in Mr. Principle's office all those years ago, not the least of which is that the mother lion instinct doesn't go away just because my kids are all adults now. When someone is unkind to them ... when they are treated unfairly ... when they are mistreated in any way, my mama lion heart is ready to jump into action and rip the meanies to shreds. But there's something else I've learned over the years as my children have aged ... they are adults who are more than capable of managing their own lives and they do a really, really, really good job of doing just that. Even when something happens to one of them that causes that mother lion roar to try its best to escape my lips, my job now is to stand squarely behind my kids and cheer them on as they do their own roaring ... my job now is to let them know I am always here for them ... my job now is to make sure they know how much I love them ... my job now is to stand back and watch them make their own way in the world and be ever so proud of each one of them.
Oh, and Matt's speech? It was about being responsible for your own actions ... about being the kind of person who takes his or her responsibilities seriously ... about recognizing that your actions always have consequences. And his inappropriate content? He closed his speech by advising his friends to consider the outcome before they peed into the wind ... yep, that's right ... my son was punished by the school for encouraging his classmates to think twice before they frivolously peed into the wind, lest they get covered in pee. All that hubbub because Matt said the word pee in his speech ... what a rebel ... what a delinquent ... what a great, great kid.
By the way, I agree with my son ... don't pee in the wind, friends ... take responsibility for your actions ... don't pee in the wind.
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