Accidental Lessons

Part I
1. Sleepover
2. Cross Country/Running
3. 7th Grade Band
4. Lord of the Rings
5. Dad
6. 6th Grade Talent Show
7. Vacation
8. My 3 Sisters
9. Singing/Choir
10. Pets

A. Everything happens for a reason/became thankful for all that I have.
B. Do things that make you happy.
C. Be yourself; don't fall into the status quo.
D. Don't take things for granted.
E. Don't let anyone get in the way of what you want to do.
F. Treasure what means the most to you.
G. Grow up and stop being immature.
H. I love reading fiction.
I. I still rely strongly on my mom.
J. It is a great stress reliever.

Answers: 1. G 2. J 3. E 4. H 5. A 6. C 7. D 8. F 9. B 10. I

Part II
Don't take things for granted-When I was little, I always acted like I never got enough. I never had enough material things and I wasn't cool enough. Now that I'm older, I realize that I have SO much and I never realized how much my mom does for me. I am extremely fortunate for a loving family and caring mom, and I now know that I have a lot more than most people do growing up.

Learn to appreciate the small things-My mom has always been the backbone of our family and always thinks of others before herself. Everyone thinks of my mom as the "nice" mom because of her always-happy personality and kind nature. She has done so many little things for me that add up in the end, like buying me breakfast, going out of her way to pick me up from school, taking me on trips, etc.

Love your life and have fun-My mom's motto in life is to "live it up, but be safe" and I truely live by that. Whenever I'm down in the dumps, I always look to my mom or my sisters for advice and they always cheer me up and remind me what a great life I really have.

Be who you want to be and create your own life-When I was in middle school, I always gave into my peers and went along with what they did. Now that I'm older and more mature, I've realized that I can't follow in other peoples' footsteps. I am my own person now and I do what I want to do; whether that applys to the public or not.

Treat others how you would treat yourself-I sometimes forget to think of how I myself would like to be treated, and go ahead and treat others poorly. I am a pretty generous person and tend to try to do more for others than myself, but if it's a bad day, I sometimes get caught up in my own world and forget that I am being rude or mean to someone. I don't mean any harm, but I learned the hard way that you always have to be kind to others because karma truely does come back around.