Teaching TheKiddo™: Lesson 7

Remember The Rules; Know When To Break Them.

Your life will be full of rules. You’ll constantly be told what to do. You’ll always have someone telling you what you should and should not be doing.

It has already started. Your Mami and Papi make rules for you. Your teachers make rules for you. Your coaches make rules for you.

There are rules for games, grammar, learning, and life.

For the most part, those rules are designed to protect you, teach you and help you grow. So learn them. There are times, however, that you’ll want or even need to break the rules.

Like now.

There are a variety of grammar rules I just broke with that two-word paragraph. I did it on purpose. I did it for a reason. And it worked.

Maurice Sendak was masterful at breaking the rules of grammar. "Where The Wild Things Are" is an opus of sentence fragments an run-ons. It's also a book that you request in both English and Spanish on a regular basis. 

I know the rules. So I know when breaking them is the right thing to do.

Learn your rules. 

Follow them. 

Brush your teeth. Wash your face. Do your homework.

In time, you’ll know when breaking the rules (or even a little civil disobedience) is the right thing to do. Just be sure you know why you’re breaking the rules.

Papi will back you 100%.