Too Matured For Their Age

When I was young, my parents got divorce when I was only six. Dad ran from paying alimony and mum had to work seven days a week to maintain a roof above our head and food on the table. Grandma took care of us but she had never been to school. So I grew up with limited general knowledge. I was asthmatic too, so I had to skip school every time I had an attack.

In school I do not have many friends because other kids think that I am lazy for skipping school so often. I remembered there was once, I was absent during a monthly test and the next day I was allowed to re-sit for the test. I was suppose to spell "helmet" and draw it too. I was already seven then. Had no clue what a helmet was. My fellow classmates look at me like I was from outer space.

Those embarrassing moments are still fresh in my mind. I promise myself, when I have kids, I will jammed pack their brains with general knowledge before they start school.

When my sons were younger, every night we would chat before they sleep. What ever questions they asked I always have an answer for them. Even if I do not know the answer, I would find out and tell them the next day. We would read the encyclopedia when ever we had the time.

One night, my youngest son, around age four then, asked how come when ever I switch off the lights, the room appear to be so dark and later we could see again. I trained them to sleep in the dark since birth. I explained to both of them that there is a small window in our eye called the pupil. It controls the amount of light that can enter the eye to help us see better. It needs time to open or close, so every time when I switch off the lights, we would count to ten and right after that we could see in the dark again.

Told them that it will never be that dark at night because there is always the moonlight and the street light just out side our house. They became more confident and not so scared of the dark.

Few months after that, we went on an annual family trip to the beach. We get to stay in a bungalow by the beach with my in-laws and nieces and nephews. Most of my nieces and nephews were of my sons age.

That night, all adults were busy downstairs preparing for a barbecue and all children were upstairs playing in those four rooms. Most of them were below ten years of age and about nine of them. Suddenly there was a black out. The whole neighborhood was without electricity.

The first thing that cross my mind was the children upstairs. I shouted from downstairs telling everyone not to move and that I am coming to get them. I could hear a few of them running and shouting towards the stairs. Some were crying too. When I found my sons in one of the rooms, my youngest son giggled and said "Why do they have to panic? Don't they know that the pupil in our eye needs time to open for more lights to enter?"

I was a proud mummy that day. Glad to know that all those stories I told them every night does not go to waste. Others always tell me that me children were very matured for their age. I don't find that to be a bad thing. Since most of the facts they would need to know sooner or later, why not sooner.

There was the time when we were all at my sister-in-law's house. My niece had just got a microscope set from Toys'R'us and the children were all taking turns to look at the specimens provided. My eldest son, around the age of eight, took one look and said loudly, "Hey! This looks like a sperm!" My in-laws with their eyes wide open, all look at me. Hey, we do read the encyclopedia and it comes with pictures too.

Where ever I go or do with my boys, even just watching t.v, I would explain to them what it is about, what it is suppose to mean, morally is it right or wrong etc. Children at the age below ten have brains like a sponge. They could absorb more then you think they could. To me, it is better that they learned from me than to learn from their fellow friends of the same age, they might get the wrong message.

Thanks for reading and happy parenting.