Validation

I came across this article today on my Facebook and I loved it!  I loved it so much I bought the book!!  Sometimes I feel like a lone voice crying that we need to be tougher and raise expectations for our children.  They can do better than what most of them are doing.  As I read this article I remembered the day when my oldest son was in his freshman year of college.  He called home to fuss at me a little :)  He had written a paper, I don't even remember for what class, but he said he didn't do a good job on the paper and I would have given him maybe a "C" and made him re-do it.  The teacher in his college class gave him an "A" on the paper.  He said it wasn't fair that home school was harder than college.  I gently reminded him that I am his mother and I know full well what he is capable of doing and I expected him to do his best, and besides wasn't he happy that he could write "A" papers in college!  He grudgingly admitted that he was happy he knew how to write, but still!!!  Why, oh why, do we think that our children are so weak that they can't be held to high standards?  If Mary and Laura Ingalls could stay alone for a full day at 9 and 7 and even manage and out of control cow, then why can't our children work hard and be exceptional.  They are really no different from children 100 years ago except that back then kids were held to high standards and today we just keep lowering the bar afraid that we are going to hurt their fragile egos.  Well, here stands one lone real life home school mama who is holding the bar high and expecting great things from her very real life every day kids!!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304213904579095303368899132.html