Wisdom in her choices!

Brandi and her wisdom!

I always like to get behind one of my children that makes wise choices. Brandi came home yesterday to talk with me about cheer, school, work at Sonic, friends and her somewhat chaotic life where she had very little breathing room. Her choice is to possibly give up cheer ....hmmm....this makes me happy and sad at the same time. This is how it all unfolded:

Brandi sent me a text message yesterday, fairly early on in the day - like 8:30 - 9 am....She had a headache, was sunburnt and felt dehydrated. In my mind, I had answered her like this:  Well, that happens when you go to the river to go tubing with a bunch of underage teens and adults who find their pleasure in drinking alcohol. She was even given a breathalizer because of her hanging with other individuals who were drinking alcohol. The cops tested her because everyone else was drinking and it was hard to believe her when she told them she was not drinking. I am proud to say she was not drinking and did not come home with a ticket for minor consumption. Isn't it true though that one rotten apple spoils the whole bunch? What business does righteousness have doing with unrighteousness? If you would just lose those friends and start making wise choices in friends...maybe, just maybe you would not feel like this today! LOL!

This is how I really answered her: "Awww....I'm sorry. What do you want to do?" Then she responded by asking if she could come home after lunch? My reply was, "You will need to tell your coach, Ms Valencia, that you do not feel well and just need to come home." Brandi said she would do that. So after I got home from taking Brandon to Head Start, I found Brandi at home in the recliner with a blanket over her, fixin to fall asleep. She took a much needed nap.

Then around supper time she started a conversation with me about school, her grades, the physically demanding cheer schedule, work and time with her friends. She started by telling me that not only did Ms Valencia need a Drs excuse for today but that she also told me that Ms. Valencia had sent her a text and told her that she should not go on a field trip with her Future Educators of America group!!! What? Anyway, Brandi said, " I am not making a career out of cheerleading. I want to be an English teacher!" She began getting tearful. She said this was so difficult. She explained how she had a 61 in English and that she had turned in a paper that had been due but the grade did not reflect that it had even been turned in. Then she told me amusing stories about her goofy English teacher who was "into" Norse mythology and even dressed the part sometimes to teach class. So why does the school complain about ball caps being worn??? So I am sitting there listening to her explain to me about this whacked English teacher who wants the kids to participate in the kingdom of Norse gods and goddesses with him and am just laughing. She even said he had named his 3 kids after various Norse goddesses - WOW!! Can you imagine this? He has a collection of swords and costumes and utilizes or wears these in class. I challenge you to a dual Brandi - your paper lacked the quality of a goddess! Or better yet, he teaches with a helmet on - are you getting any weird visions? This is an acid trip gone wrong! The kids must enter a weird force field when they enter his classroom and get sucked into a different time and dimension - DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-AID KIDS!!!! Ok, enough on this guy - I think I want to sit in on one of his classes....then I will make a blog complete with pictures. So, Brandi has a 61 and does not quite fit into this English class. I asked her if she could get out of it. She said, if I came up there. So, after her field trip today, I will go to the school tomorrow with her and get her into Mrs. Cantu's class - she is wonderful!

 Then Brandi talked some more about cheer and how she wanted to do what she needed to become a teacher. She said the field trip was important to her and did not want to stay away from this field trip just to satisfy her coaches need to be in control of her life all for the sake of cheer! She wrote Ms Valencia and told her that her Mom wanted her to attend the college outlook field trip because she was going to be a teacher when she got out of school and wanted to do what she had to in order to advance in that direction. She got a very hurtful text back...Brandi got teary eyed and said that she was to bring her uniform in to give to another girl because, she may not pass the grade check for this week because of the low English grade, she also had missed school due to a headache and therefore missed practice, she would be missing most of cheer practice the next day due to the field trip. So since Brandi wants to further her life by doing things important to her future (not cheer!) then she would be punished by having to turn in her uniform and having another girl step into fill her spot!!! Brandi did go on to tell me what she had learned at cheer camp this year. That will be blog for another day!

Brandi and I also talked about the choreography coming up this Saturday. She said that she is scheduled to work at Sonic this Saturday from 9 till 5 and that conflicts with practice that is 7a till 9p. She has someone to work for her at Sonic until 11. Her boss told her that if she is not there at 11, then she need not bother coming in anymore. I asked if she could get someone else to take her place and she said no, she is the one who had to be there at 11. So my 17 year old daughter who will be 18 in a few short months is faced with some very adult dilemmas. She is learning that just because she cries or is conflicted about situations that they do not solve themselves. She is also learning that in the midst of solving her dilemmas that she is going to leak liquid from her eyes and even possibly her nose. GOT TISSUE?

Then the last thing we talked about was her dilemma of not having time with her friends. I assume that this means - no time with her boyfriend Ethan. If she is concerned about her future of teaching, then I would think that her grades in school are most important. Cheer, a job and "friends" interfere with grades then they all need to be adjusted or eliminated. I would think the first thing to eliminate would be her job. She is thinking that cheer is what she wants to eliminate. She was crying over this decision and deep down, I don't think this is what she truly wants. It is a big decision and a wise decision that she is making - to give up cheer! I also would think it would be a wise decision to just give up the job, continue with cheer since she has dedicated 5 years of her life to it! She can always get another job. She can't go back to her senoir year in HS and choose to stay in cheer!  I already am having cheer Mom withdrawls. Yes, it is a big committment to be in HS, keep up grades and stick with a sport. A sport that conditions your body and gives you some ability to think more clearly. I think that her boyfriend GREATLY interferes in her decision to quit cheer and I don't agree 100%. I agree that something needs to be given up - If she asked my opinion - I would have told her she needed to give up her job. She would just have to make the best of friendships and her relationships in the rest of this school year. If any boyfriend is worth his wieght in gold - then he will lovingly and patiently wait while Brandi finishes out her Senoir year of High School. I think this is a type of refining fire for her boyfriend....will he prove to be gold or will just ash be left?

This is another time where this Mother feels she has the answers for her daughter but is left to silently observe as her daughter makes her own wise choices for herself. I will give her my opinion in this situation but ultimately the choice is hers. I really hope that she will continue with cheer but if she doesn't I still believe in her and her choices. I love Brandi so very much!!!  I am so proud of her statement that she made, "I am not going into a career of cheerleading, I want to be an English teacher." So, with tears in her eyes, she is doing whatever she feels it takes to accomplish that goal.

Always Smilin' Sometimes Through Tears,
Dianne
Phil 4:13