Suggestion for a conversation to have with your kids

To the Editor:

Have you ever had little conversations with your kids about perspective on life? Have you ever shared the realization that their K–12 education is the largest free gift they will ever receive in life, other than perhaps from their family?

You can have any number of perspectives on how good or bad the education is, but the dollars spent and the number of people spending lots of hours caring about them will never happen again in their life.

Over several decades of volunteer and substitute teaching in the CH-UH system, every time I ask this question of the kids, from first grade to 12th grade, if they know this is the largest free gift they will ever receive in life, they always look surprised, never disagreeing, just puzzling about it.

"It is the thoughts we don't have that get us in life." The best reason to have life conversations with your kids.