14 Rules to Live By!!

I came across this list while searching the internet.  The list was created by Charles J. Skye and in it he listed  the 14 things children/young adults DID NOT and WILL NOT learn in school. They are great rules to live by.



The book talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Here is what he had to say about the world today and the fantasy our children are "taught" to live in:


Charles J. Sykes offered the following words of wisdom:

Rule No. 1:    Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2:    The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3:    Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4:    If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5:    Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6:    It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7:    Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8:    Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)

Rule No. 9:    Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rules No. 1 and No. 2.)

Rule No. 10:    Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11:    Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12:    Smoking (or drug use) does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13:    You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14:    Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.





So, what I got from this "speech" is:


Teach your kids about the real world and don't let them completely live in a fantasy of bubblegum and popcorn.  We all know when life throws you lemons, make lemonade. Show your kids how to overcome problems and not pretend like they don't exist.  Teach them life is not fair.  Teach them to work hard for what they want. Show them how to achieve their goals, don't just hand it to them. Tell them what is expected of them, ever day of their life! Too many kids today think their parents owe them something because they were born. The world owes them everything because they want it.  They should get what they want because well, they want it!  Work for it? Earn it? No, they are owed, right?


Did you think your parents owed you something? 
Do you still think someone owes you something for being here?
Do you feel you should have something just because you want it?
Do you think your parent's rules made you a "bad" person?


With my parents, I didn't have many rules and was given the freedom to be me.  I knew I had to get good grades in school.  I knew I had to earn them and no one was going to pass me because I kind of tried! Heck, I knew they were not going to pass me even if I tried my hardest. I never got punished for a bad grade. I never got punished for messing up.  Instead, my parents would say, "You made this happen and you have the ability to change things. Your horrible grades have no effect on my life.  Your horrible grades mean you have to work even harder in school.  You are only messing with your own future.  My future does not change because you get a good or bad grade."  Those things made me who I am today.  They made me responsible for my actions, responsible for my own future.  I knew I would not get what I wanted out of life unless I earn it.  No one was going to hand ANYTHING to me.  I worked for it all.  If I want something bad enough, I know how to work my way to the goal! I also learned early in life that it's not always fair.  I could do my best to accomplish my goal only to realize I just made the wrong choice.  There were no give-see-back-sees.  I chose my future, I had to correct it.  


These are thinks I want my children to learn from me. 

• Work hard and earn your way. 
• Your future is your future.  Do you want to be nothing in life? Then achieve nothing.
• You fail a class, you failed yourself. Not me.
• Yes, sometimes kids get more than you.  But, their parents' are not teaching them to be self sufficient hard working adults! That's life and it's almost never fair.
• Yes, you have to work harder to get what you want because frankly, "I'm not made of money"
• Because you ask, does not mean you shall receive.  
• Think for yourself. Don't let other people's bad habits influence you.  Do what you know is right in your heart. 

Are there any things on this list you agree with? Disagree with? What type of parenting style do you see me as?