My son " I dont think you are as smart as you think you are "
 

Im really starting to enjoy him experiencing real life , and learning the lessons that he used to redicule me for trying to impart to him .
In his defense, he went to a special school, in which he had 6 people in his classroom. He was more or less coddled, and did whatever he wanted . Since his moms passing, he has been living with relatively wealthy , super liberal relatives.
Great people, and I love and respect them, but their lives, and the lives of their children in no way reflect what a normal middle income working male schlub will have to endure,and the lessons that life will inevitably dish out whether he wants to admit it or not
I remember when I was way smarter than my dad also .

its a good thing to be smarter than your parents. your parents, should want that for you. like that's what success and progress looks like, each generation smarter than the previous one.


i remember the moment i realized i was smarter than my parents.

Yeah, me also , But I was about 10 years too early .

When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

-Mark Twain

I didn't realize how smart my father was until I had my own kids.
Now I have turned into my father.

Personally, I'm surprised I've lived this long. Lord knows I've probably come close to causing my own demise a few dozen times, no matter how much "knowledge" my Elders tried to impart.

That said, I'm either lucky as heck or smart and conniving as heck.

I'm gonna go with "lucky".

I cherish the day when my son was 19 and said to me he realized that a few years earlier I had been giving him good advice (which he rejected), and he had learned since I knew what I had been talking about and he appreciated that I had tried.

Best
Les

Both my sons are doctors. But, when they need help on their houses or cars they ask for my help. In that instance I am smarter than they are. The rest of the time not so much..

The older I get the smarter my father becomes.

My wife thinks I'm the dumbest person in the world and that I only succeed by luck. I never try to set her straight. Low expectations are easy and fun to surpass.

Timely...

I'm going through a difficult time with my son & we haven't spoken for nearly 6 months (it's really complicated). I've always been close with my two daughters but for some reason my son has become distant in recent years. He has a great job, his own house and a really nice G.F. I really can't see what the problem is!

Hoping for a peaceful Christmas.

When our first child was born, my dad said “get ready for long days and short years”.

Once again, he was right.

That is a wise man.

Hopefully, you can salvage/restore/upgrade your relationship soon!

Yep .... and it'll happen ... just give him time. Good luck!

When I grow up ... I hope to be as dumb as dad was back when I wuz smrat :D

This.

One of my favorite MT quotes. Kinda sums up the growth many of us experience as we age.

I remember when I graduated high school, I agreed with many of my classmates, we were not ignorant kids. Looking back at what I have learned over the years, yea, I was a ignorant teenager.

Just the facts of life like buying a house, maintenance required in plumbing and electrical needs, car and operation of a car and the maintenance on cars. How to do a job like interact with a customer and photograph a wedding or industrial plant.

How to handle money and investments and retirement savings.

I have learned a lot more of the history of the USA and the world, and world wars than I ever wanted to learn in school. Now it is interesting to me.

To meet and have known men that landed on the beach on D-day, and were there during the Siege of Bastogne and hear their accounts first hand. Yea, just getting through life will teach one much more than any school.

Funny. I am still smarter than my Dad. I am also smarter than my son. And he knows it.

But damn. My Son is amazing and talented in ways that I am not. He is an incredible student of life. He sees stuff and learns.

No idea what my point I am trying to make here but my kids are a source of continual amazement. How dumb as well as how amazing they are. And I adore them no matter what.

two things:

1. i think a lot of people are mixing up wisdom and intelligence. they are related, for sure, but they are different too.

2. men esp are known for not really seeing other people as full, other people. we are raised to see the world this way. and often the triggers for the realization that other people are in fact, full fledged other people, with feelings, thoughts and skills of their own, are events like having your own children. its not the only events, but it is one of them.

some things to consider.

Wisdom is the inevitable result of intelligence, given time. What is more often confused is intelligence vs knowledge. I've met many, many people who have managed to amass a good deal of knowledge who remain as dumb as the proverbial box of rocks.