I came across this old picture recently and looking at the happy smiles of my brother and me, stopped all that I was doing and started to reminisce about my childhood.
What did I remember? Playing catching with my cousins beneath the void decks, taking after dinner walks with my parents at Toa Payoh Central, splashing at the public pools, picnic by the beaches and weekend “camps” in the living room to stay up late to watch mushy movies starring “Lin Ching Hsia” and “Chin Han”. Studies? My parents did not pressure me on studies. My mom’s requirement was simple enough – as long as you pass and do not need to retake the exams. Which I was thankful for as I was already stressed by brainy classmates who like comparing scores.
Enrichment classes? The only thing my mom insisted on was swimming lessons as it is a practical skill for survival.
My parents were more particular about instilling good manners and values in my brother and me. We must always greet and respect our elders and lying, cheating and stealing etc will not be endured.
When I asked my mom for parenting advice. She said that I should avoid over emphasis on studies and to just let the boys play over the weekends. No assessments, no tuition. She felt that children these days have too much tuition and enrichment classes and she wonders if they still have a childhood left.
Maybe my mom doesn’t fully grasp the dilemmas of modern parents. Maybe she does not understand how different the kids are today and years ago. Maybe she does not realize that the world today has changed vastly.
But the fact is – my brother and I turned out pretty ok. And we love our parents dearly and remain close to them still. Till this day, my brother and I still swap happy memories of our childhood with “Remember last time..”.
It may be SA2 for Craig this month but I am going to take my mom’s advice and ban studies over the weekends. Haha … lucky boy!
So - have you asked your mom and dad for parenting advice recently?
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