Two days back, I saw a guy riding his motorbike with a toddler sitting in front of him and his wife cradling a young infant at the back. It was one in the afternoon with the hot sun right above our head. The infant's face, of course faces the sky, with the hot sun glaring right at her eyes. As their bike passed my stationed car, I saw the mum, in baju kurung (a traditional Malay costume) pulled up her blouse and start breast feeding on that moving bike. Gosh!
The same evening, it was drizzling. As I was on my way to fetch my son from school, I saw another family of four, two adults and two toddlers, on a moving bike again. This time, the mum was holding an umbrella above them. Goodness! As if the umbrella will help keep them dry.
I have also seen before, pint size children carrying school bags the size of their body, and probably the same weight too, walking home from school without any adult supervision. They were wearing primary school uniform, so I guess they could be only seven or eight years old. Some of them even cross the road without looking out for cars.
A friend of mine, would drop her two girls off to school and before they enter the school gate, she will give each of them a very tight hug as if they are leaving the country instead. She had been doing that since her girls was in pre-school. Her eldest now is already 16 years old.
Another friend of mine, who only has a son, will drop his son off to school and she herself would get out of the car and hang around the school gate chatting (or investigating) with school children that passes by, up till the bell rings.
There are also Muslims children who kisses their parent's hands (their tradition) outside the school before they enter school. Aw. I think that is so sweet.
Well, I personally don't think there is any wrong or right way of parenting. Just that certain way of bringing up children could be acceptable to one parent, might not, to another. Anyway, there wasn't any parenting school around to guide us nor was it a subject that we could learn in school during our younger days. It is all trial and error.
If my sons turn out to be a good person, a good husband, a good father, able to hold a job and bring home the bread, then I will know I passed as a parent. As at now, I think I passed with flying colors. Well, no one can see the future but time will tell. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy your parenting as much as I do.
March 28, 2010
4 comments:
Wow. Lovely post. Different parents have different views and you were right how others sometimes feel offended.
Have a great day!:)
So, what type of parents are you or would you be Mr Stupid?
loveliest one dear ,i liked the parents who hug tight before school and hold umbrella for kids ,i think love must be expressed to kids and it makes their mind healthy ,thanks for kind words take care
Every parent wants only the best for their children. If they do good or not in the end. It shouldn't always be blamed on the parents. We can only decide for them for a couple of years while they're still young. But later on in their lives they'll choose a path of their own. It's like what you said, we can only guide them, but we cannot plan or control it.
I am not perfect, but it's easy to identify a wrong way of parenting if you see a woman breastfeeding on a moving bike and letting small kids cross the streets by themselves.
Have a good day!
Butteryfly
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