Grunting at the shrill sound of the alarm, you roll over attempting to get as far away from it as possible. You had been up until two in the morning and was not feeling very awake only three hours later.
However, the warmth you expected was not reached till you ungracefully flopped on to the floor. Now wide awake and irritated you walk over to the alarm to turn it off and drag yourself towards the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, now freshened up, you catch the smell of fried eggs and bacon causing your stomach to let out a growl as if to say 'Smell it later. Let's go eat now.'
Smiling to yourself you enter the kitchen to see your husband!Mark carefully shifting the fried eggs and bacon to your plate before placing a mug next to it.
"Morning, sweetheart!" you greet him with a peck on the cheek as he smiles at your state.
"When did you go to bed?" he asks while gesturing you to sit down. "I tried staying up but I fell asleep before you came to bed."
"Around two, I guess," you grin. "At least I finished half of the unit."
Shaking his head at your 'let-me-kill-myself-but-pass-my exams' mood he started digging in to breakfast.
"You burnt the eggs again," you giggle at the slightly burnt eggs.
"It's ok, I'm improving," he grinned, embarrassed.
After cleaning up the dishes you grab your coat before taking a seat on the sofa as you waited for Mark to finish his shower.
"You ready?" he enters the living room while checking his wallet for his keys and phone.
"I got the keys," you jingle the car keys at him as he laughs.
**********
"When are you getting off today?" Mark asks you after giving you a kiss on the forehead.
"Prof. Lee said his surgery is after lunch so around five?" you answer while stuffing your scrubs into your bag which you discarded on the backseat the previous day since you had to use the bag to carry your stained jacket.
"Can we go out for dinner or you have more to study?" he questions as he tucks lock of hair behind your ears.
You coo at his consideration before peppering his face with kisses. "No, I finished it all last night."
It's a lie but you know you can finish the last bit if you pull another all-nighter.
Warnings || Reader is a bit insecure? Pls tell me if there's anything I have to add
Feedback is very much appreciated. Enjoy
"Wonnie?" you shyly poke your head through the curtain.
"Yeah?" you see him standing from the little bench a couple feet away. "Does it fit? Shall I get another size?"
"It's a bit... too short," you mumble bashfully.
You were not used to skirts & dresses which were strictly limited to special events. And with your cousin's upcoming wedding, you were given no choice but buy a new dress, seeing that, you had outgrown all your formal dresses.
Your mother had demanded your neighbor and best friend, Jungwon, accompanied you, knowing he would make much more rational, practical decisions over the dress than you.
"Come out," he laughs. "Show it to me. If it's really bad, you can try on another dress or we can ask them if they can adjust it a bit."
Begrudgingly you come out of the fitting stall, dragging your feet against floor which earned a look from your best friend.
He thought you looked pretty. The second he laid his eyes on the dress hung on the rack, he knew it would suit you. It was a modest dress with a halter neck, and a tie at the waist. It suited your taste to the dot as well.
It wasn't as short as you made it be; barely a few inches above your knee. However, aware of how prim and proper you tended to be, he reassured it wasn’t to be worried.
“Plus it makes your short-ass look taller,” the cheeky grin making his dimples appear deeper than it was.
“Are you sure it alright?” you ask once more, looking at yourself through the mirror.
As much as you adored the dress, you couldn’t help but feel quite self-conscious in it. It showed off your legs which were nowhere close to long and model-like. And your neck and collarbones which weren’t as prominent and graceful as you wanted them to be.
“You look really, really pretty,” Jungwon says, aware of your doubts.
He notices how your features relax and a smile creep up to your lips at the compliment.
“I think I should go look for a tie this color don’t you think?”
“Were you invited too?” you ask, surprised. Your cousin knew Jungwon, but to the point of inviting him to her wedding? Maybe not.
“Pfft as if,” he chuckles. “Knowing you, you would probably wear this for the year-end dance, and I‘m your partner?”
“Are you asking me out for prom, Yang Jungwon?” you raise your eyebrow, suppressing a smile. “Real smooth dude.”
“Of course, I mean it’s not like I’ve been your dance date for the past three years or something like that right?” he was trying his hardest to not burst out laughing.
“Well then you go ahead, I’ll be there in a sec,” you slip inside the stall smiling as you change in your own clothes.
Grunting at the shrill sound of the alarm, you roll over attempting to get as far away from it as possible. You had been up until two in the morning and was not feeling very awake only three hours later.
However, the warmth you expected was not reached till you ungracefully flopped on to the floor. Now wide awake and irritated you walk over to the alarm to turn it off and drag yourself towards the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, now freshened up, you catch the smell of fried eggs and bacon causing your stomach to let out a growl as if to say 'Smell it later. Let's go eat now.'
Smiling to yourself you enter the kitchen to see your husband!Mark carefully shifting the fried eggs and bacon to your plate before placing a mug next to it.
"Morning, sweetheart!" you greet him with a peck on the cheek as he smiles at your state.
"When did you go to bed?" he asks while gesturing you to sit down. "I tried staying up but I fell asleep before you came to bed."
"Around two, I guess," you grin. "At least I finished half of the unit."
Shaking his head at your 'let-me-kill-myself-but-pass-my exams' mood he started digging in to breakfast.
"You burnt the eggs again," you giggle at the slightly burnt eggs.
"It's ok, I'm improving," he grinned, embarrassed.
After cleaning up the dishes you grab your coat before taking a seat on the sofa as you waited for Mark to finish his shower.
"You ready?" he enters the living room while checking his wallet for his keys and phone.
"I got the keys," you jingle the car keys at him as he laughs.
**********
"When are you getting off today?" Mark asks you after giving you a kiss on the forehead.
"Prof. Lee said his surgery is after lunch so around five?" you answer while stuffing your scrubs into your bag which you discarded on the backseat the previous day since you had to use the bag to carry your stained jacket.
"Can we go out for dinner or you have more to study?" he questions as he tucks lock of hair behind your ears.
You coo at his consideration before peppering his face with kisses. "No, I finished it all last night."
It's a lie but you know you can finish the last bit if you pull another all-nighter.
life is not success. life is not grades or achievements. life is refreshing naps, drinking your favourite drink, movie night, hugging your best friend, laying on grass, funny videos, seeing your plant bloom, the days getting longer, candles, finding a piece of clothing that’s just so you, complimenting people, personal handshakes, that one song, cleansing showers, smelling flowers, cute book or coffee shops, cute prints, finishing a notebook. this is truly what life is. the smallest things.
probably why so many teens take to social media where they can enthusiastically share their interests and achievements and get positive feedback that their parents never gave
I remember once, when I was in my early 20s, I was an afternoon supervisor at my job, and I worked with mostly teenagers, and the one day this one kid, who was like 15, was bored so I suggested he could clean out the fridge. He did and when he was done I said he did a good job.
After that, this kid was cleaning out the fridge at least once a week, and I was like, “why are you always cleaning the fridge?” Like, I didn’t mind, but it seemed odd. And he said, “one time I cleaned the fridge and you said I did a good job. I wanted to make you proud of me again.”
Literally, I changed the entire way I interacted with teenagers after that. I actually got a package of glitter stars and I would stick them on their nametags when they did a good job, and they loved it.
My manager had commented on how hard these kids work and I said, “they’re starved for positive feedback. They go to school all day then come to work all evening and no one appreciates it because it’s expected of them, but they’re still kids. They need positive feedback from adults in their lives.”
Like, everyone likes feeling appreciated. Everyone likes being complimented and having their efforts be noticed. Another coworker (who was a mother of teenage children), hated that I did this, and said they were too old to be rewarded with stickers, but like… it wasn’t about the stickers. The stickers were just a symbol that their effort was noticed and appreciated. I was just lucky that I learned this at a time when I was still young enough to remember what it was like to be a teenager. I was only 2 years out of highschool at that point and highschool is fucking hard. People forget this as they get older, but ask anyone and almost no one would ever want to go back and do it again, but they expect kids to suck it up because they’re young so they should be able to do school full time, plus homework, and work, and maintain a healthy social life, and sleep, and spend time with family, and do chores and help out at home, and worry about college and relationships and everything else, and then just get shit on all the time and treated like they’re lazy and entitled. And then they wonder why teenagers are apathetic.
For a german exam I had to argue against an article that was essentially „kids these days, they don’t care about anything and are constantly on their phones“ and really it was the easiest essay I‘ve ever written.
Teens don’t talk to adults bc adults only ask „so, how‘s school“ to then interrupt them two sentences in. And because they can’t engage in a conversation about buying houses and working in a bank. I would’ve loved to talk about philosophy and politics and history with family the way I did with friends and in class but because I was young no one took what I had to say seriously.
And no, teens aren’t always on their phone. They’re on their phone when they’re bored. You think I‘m on social media when I‘m with my friends? When I‘m talking about something I‘m interested in?
Maybe the reason kids are so distant and always on their phone during family parties and the like is because you‘re failing to engage and include them.
When you respect kids, they really respond and learn from you. But if you treat kids like “theyre just a kid, what do they know??” then you’ll never find out.
As a Disneyland Cast Member, I’ll add my own experience onto this –
Very frequently, when I first speak to a child while I’m at work, they’ll kind of withdraw and act uncomfortable and shy. Their parents will then rather frequently tell them to not be shy and try to coax them to talk to me – whenever that happens, I always, without fail, politely dissuade the parents from pressuring them.
“I’m a stranger,” I’ll tell the kid’s parents. “I don’t blame them for not talking to me – if they were anywhere else, they’d have the right idea, to not immediately trust me.”
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen that same kid – simply after hearing their initial reaction being validated, instead of reproached – immediately open up to me after that. I also cannot tell you how many times that child and I would go on to start a friggin’ marathon conversation, and I got to hear all about how great their day was or what their favorite Disney movies were or what rides they liked and didn’t like or how much they like a certain Disney character or song…all from me validating that initial feeling and showing genuine interest in what they had to say.
This isn’t just young children, either. I will always remember being positioned outside the Animation Academy one day and starting up a conversation with a young lady, perhaps 12 or 13, who joined the line with her father a full 25 minutes before the class was supposed to start. Now keep in mind, we do a drawing class every 30 minutes: there was no one else in line at that point, and no one else joined the girl and her father in line for a full fifteen minutes. So I could tell pretty quickly that this girl was very emotionally invested in getting a good spot for the drawing class: a conclusion all the more bolstered by the fact that she had a notebook under her arm. I asked her if she was an artist – she said yes, but seemed uncomfortable at the question, so I skipped even asking her if I could see her work, instead admitting that I myself wasn’t very good at art, but that I’m trying to get better and that I love the history of Disney animation. On the screens around us was video footage of different Disney concept art and animation reels, so I pointed one of them out (for Snow White) and asked if she knew the story behind the making of the movie. Upon confirming that she didn’t, I proceeded to get down on the floor so I could sit next to her and her father and dramatically tell the whole story of how “Uncle Walt” created the first full-length animated motion picture, even though everyone and their mother thought he was an idiot for even trying, and how the film ended up becoming the first Hollywood blockbuster. After the story was over, the girl’s father said that his daughter really wanted to be an animator when she grew up, and she finally felt comfortable enough to open her notebook and show me some of her artwork. It was wonderful! Every sketch had such character and you could tell how much work she put into it! And I could tell how much telling her that – and sharing that moment with her, where we got to connect over something we both really enjoyed – had meant. And after the class was over, she sought me out to show me what she and her father had drawn – and sure enough, hers was great! (Her father’s was too, really. XD)
People, kids and teens included, love sharing what they love and how they feel with others. You just have to give them the chance to show it.
I feel like I am obliged to add one more thing: don’t ever think that the kids won’t feel your unspoken judgements cause they do!
I felt always like a ‘problem’ in my family, until I was about sixteen, I got this teacher who was litterally the first to tell I was worthy. He changed my life up till this day.
Also how do grown ups imagine how ‘we’ will ever learn to engage in conversations with adults properly if you don’t teach us?
I told one of my new coworkers (who is 26) that he was doing really well and that I was proud of him and his progress. I thought he was going to start crying for how quietly he said “really?”.
Positive feedback makes the biggest difference to everything.
ᜌ — he confesses through a grandiose attempt, but ends up losing his composure and brain cells to the nerves and excitement anyways and ends up drifting off so much from his oh-se well prepared speech or script. it's honestly so heartwarming to witness the mighty and confident king jake stumble upon his words and it makes your heart swell so much.
ᜌ — he likes to brag about his significant other to everyone. he adores the fact that you accepted him of all of the other people that you could, not that he ever really admits his disbelief to you, because he has to keep up his image around his s/o haha. he also likes to get you matching stuff for a similar reason and he practically never takes off the ring you had gifted him. it's one of his most prized possessions ever.
ᜌ — he doesn't push you too much, because he understands your needs after having picked up on your little cues. he doesn't prod more than necessary whenever he sees you upset over something. he knows that when the time is right, you will tell him by yourself. he also doesn't get too heated while he feels jealous, contrary to popular belief i guess. he does end up going silent for a little while and that's how you notice how bothered he is by some other person acting too close with you for comfort.
ᜌ — he will always carry a bottle of water around just for you, because he is that kind of a person; tease you about every little thing you do; call you by a new, but still sweet nickname; take you out on fun and entertaining dates; scream about his exciting moments with you and jump around on your bed.
ᜌ — he will never leave you upset with his brash actions and always apologizes, even if it is difficult for him at first. he doesn't think that his pride is more important than your hurt feelings. even if it's something like a prank, if he has gone too far with it, he will drop the game and make sure to make it up to you.
ᜌ — he makes sure to keep up with your interests too! also, he will always make sure that the sheets are covering your body properly before he falls asleep next to you too, not wanting you to feel cold at night. he also has to absolutely make sure that you know that he considers you layla's other parent hahaha.
ᜌ — his favourite things to do to you are waking you up in the morning; giving you a high five any time you accomplish something even if it isn't that large of a deal; tying your hair for you if you need to; calling you with his own surname as though you are legally married; recording layla and you playing together at the park; rub your back in small circles to make you fall asleep faster while you bury your face in the crook of his neck; tapping your cheeks with his index finger; kissing you, obviously; playing with your hair and sometimes even making weird and funny hair styles out of them, biting your shoulder lightly any time he comes to give you a back hug, nuzzling into your cheeks afterwards.
ᜌ — his habits range from slipping his hands into your sweater if he is cold so you end up feeling his freezing fingers on your waist, which is always a shock. he also doesn't realize that he always touches you in some way, whether it be his feet, knees, or shoulders— he just can't keep himself off of you. jake also has made it a habit to kiss your lips every time you sit down next to him. it's an automatic practice and he does it without much thought haha.
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