What were the most memorable moments of your childhood life?
Don't tell me scoring all A's was one such moment! Or being the only one in the class scoring A in mathes!
No, no...we do not remember those moments...in fact we did not even bother to remember those things...
What we remember more were the day we became the school champions in 100 metre dash or we were members of the school rugby/soccer/netbal/hockey team that won the district/state championship or we took part in the school debates/public speaking/drama/singing competition or we went camping/mountain climbing, etc...
Yes, they were all those extra-curricular activities that had moulded us into what we are now, not the academic achievements.
True, you are salute and worshipped for your academic prowess...but for how long? The longest, may be for a week...then people forgot.
But if you were good in sports, people will talk about you for a very long time and everybody try to emulate you or even better your achievement!
I don't mean that we should not aim for a good academic achievement...what I want to stress or emphasise is never to put too much burden and stress on your children to score straight A's and as much A's as possible. It is and never will be necessary and the most important thing in your children's life.
Teach your children how to swim so that he/she will not drown in a very narrow stream. It is always sad to hear people drowned when they were just a few metres away from the shore/riverbank.
Teach your children how to survive in our jungle, what fruits are edible and what are toxic. Teach them how to climb trees, open up coconut to get its water and flesh so that they won't die of thirst or starve under coconut trees.
Teach them all the soft sciences...how to interact with people, how to get their attention and cooperation...how to respect people and how to sympathise and emphatise...
Strengthene their IQ, EQ and most important their SQ...so that they don't commit suicide when their girlfriend/boyfriend left them or over small worldly problems...
You are robbing their childhood by sending them to so many tuition classes hoping that they score as many A's as possible...
Remember childhood is something that they will cherish for long...give them their childhood that they will treasure and use to create their meaningful adulthood.
Look around you, how many of successful people that you know had scored all A's in their UPSR, PMR, SPM and how many of those who had scored less A's had become people who are much better off?
Please guide your children through their childhood, adolescence and adulthood properly. Allow them to choose their career wisely and never impose your unachieved ambition onto them.
Give them your tender loving care and never pamper them too much either.
Once in a while let them face hardship, though we do not want them taste what we had tasted before, so that they will appreciate what they have.
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3 comments:
We all have few children compared to our parents' time. Because of this we had inevitably pampered them somehow. During our time buying a bicycle for going to sixth form was already a luxury, but nowadays we have to buy them cars for going to college. What a stark contrast and difference!
We don't want them to go through the hardship that we have been through during our childhood days....
I for one never buy them a motorcycle, let alone a car when they are still in University....
My eldest bought her first car with her own money..let her undertsand how much she has to pay the monthly instalments for a car she chose!
I for one, have taught my children the hard ways to face and to go through life.
AND I found them growing up appreciating, honoring and respecting life, people around them and they themselves.
I never set them to achieve "MY ambition" and becoming high achievers but guide them through and to study smart, work smart and must have visions.
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