Earlier this year we had to intervene in Miss Sunshine’s outlook of life.
She has always been our quirky little unicorn with a lot of my burdens and the added complexities of Ms. Ace’s charm, quirks and perfectionism. But this year she hit her puberty age – or I should say, she was run over by her hormones – and this little girl’s life just got a bit more complicated.
During our summer break she asked me for help – she had been aware for some time that her behaviour in school was not great and this was affecting her learning processes. She has always been easily distracted and happy-go-lucky but, in the months before, she had a few difficult encounters with a truism of modern education: “if you do not focus in class, you don’t learn much”.
Modern society has created an education system where competitive advantages are available to those who focus and study, like Ms. Ace and Mr. Shiny, and advancement is the incentive to those who excel.
If you do not concentrate enough, are easily distracted or just too in your head to pay attention, the education system can be a tremendous challenge. And this corner is where Miss Sunshine and I stand.
The biggest challenge in navigating a quirky mind is when your parents do not provide you with support. As put very eloquently by Mr. Fascist when I was a kid: he did not have “crazy kids” because he was perfectly sane.
His words, not mine.
Parental support in these situations is invaluable, and it will have a lasting influence in your life. I did not get it, but I am committed to providing it for Miss Sunshine.
I want her life to be better, grander and more colourful than mine. To look at the future with fascination and joy, not with dread. To look at her life as a tapestry of rich and wonderful moments, and not as a minefield of mistakes, lost opportunities and runner-up silver medals.
I want to help her to aim for gold.
And with this, I took her to her doctor and got her medication sorted.
Ms. Ace did not take this kindly -the fear of a mother losing control and Ms. Ace’s fear of drugs created a momentary shitstorm that I had to placate in the kindest -and strongest- terms. All of this over the phone as I was overseas.
I do not want Miss Sunshine to go through the same absurd, unbelievable crap that I had to put up with when I was in school at her age. I do not want her to be lost as I feel lost. I do not want her to doubt her self, as I doubt myself.
If we have the tools and we have the knowledge, why don’t we use them? What is stopping us? Pride? Ignorance? Fear of the unknown? Fear of the side-effects? The fear mongering of social media?
The life of someone you love dearly would be so much richer and interesting once the mind is in focus, that these words cannot convey my gratitude at the opportunity Miss Sunshine has.
I am prepared to guide her through this.
Because any action, no matter how trivial or small, is much better than no action at all.