Lessons

If your child expresses even a passing interest in something, force that on them. Don't let them back out, or they might learn that it's OK to try new things and then change their mind or something. You have to teach those kids a lesson.

Example 1:
My uncle was in Special Olympics, and he wanted to jog around the block to train. I think I might have expressed in an interest in going with him, or possibly my grandmother insisted. It's not important. She told us if we were doing this, we had to run the whole way. She was using this tone and expression that made me fearful of punishment if I didn't comply, so I ran. First time I had ever done something like this, and I used all my self-discipline to keep jogging despite every fiber of my being screaming for me to stop. When I got home, I collapsed on the floor. It was ages before my heart slowed down. They weren't even proud of me. They didn't say anything. I think they might have laughed at me.

Lesson Learned: Only assholes like jogging, and that bullshit needs to get nipped right in the bud before it can blossom into a healthy lifestyle or something.


Example 2:
It was late. I was tired. My grandmother was trying to get me to do something, but I wanted to go to bed. My exact words were, "I'd like to just drink some warm milk and go to bed." After I said that, I realized it probably wouldn't taste very good and decided to just go to bed. But we can't have that, can we? No, I expressed a passing interest in doing something stupid, and I needed to learn just how wrong I was. My grandmother made sure I marched straight to the kitchen and heated up some milk in the microwave so I could drink it.

Lesson Learned: Er...only assholes try new things? I'm not sure. I clearly didn't learn my lesson because I would later end up performing in front of large groups of people and learning more instruments than I could actually handle.