Picked joy up from her sch today. It was the end of her 3d2n camp at a MOE campsite. There were many parents waiting for their kids, which is normal. What was unexpected was when the parents started to take pictures / videos of the sch buses coming in, with their kids finally alighting. If I hadn't known, I would have thought it was some super star arriving the school compound today. They carried the kids camp bags, and took selfies in front of the sch.. as though they had just graduated from their BMT. I don't know if this was normal, but I certainly didn't see this coming. To me, I was tasked to pick her and together we would take the bus to church before meeting up with William and the twins here, 兵分两路 for short.
I didn't think it was necessary for such a grand fanfare. Ultimately I went thru my P4 camp many yrs ago, and walked home after it ended.
I asked my firstborn how was the camp and she started commenting that there were some hiccups which resulted in her needing to backtrack her walk, and she told me she cried coz she was afraid. Awwww... I'm sorry darling, if I hadn't given u the response u wanted.. but u need to understand that in life, some times we don't always get what we wanted and some times we need to walk or go the longer way, bcoz of circumstances. I don't n I can't stand parents who "remove" these obstacles for their kids. They need to learn to do things by themselves. They need to survive on their own, so that if Mr choo and I are no longer here, they would be able to live on their own.
Joy also complained abt several issues abt the camp (e.g. sleeping conditions la,bathing la ) n I had to stop her before she goes on and on. I told her that if she doesn't enjoy such things, she can forget abt going on another camp again. Told her that in all circumstances, we must learn to be grateful for what is given, and not look at what we are missing. It was a teachable moment/ lesson that I hope she understand. I'm sure she had great fun, even though there were the inconveniences.. but let's all look at the positive aspects in life dear.. you are 10 and I can't possibly "cushion" yr life all the time.
Such is our style of parenting, very different from the helicopter parenting that is happening nowadays. My stand is simple.. if we do all for the kids, when will they ever learn to stand on their own? When will they be resilient enough?And then we complain that the kids are too sheltered etc ? Who is the ones sheltering them? Why not let them try, and even if they make a couple of mistakes , at least they can learn fr it. It's easier to learn from mistakes / experiences than from instructions.
I rem always telling Grace not to touch the iron bcoz it's hot but she was always curious. And it really happened. When she touched it (hot), while I was busy with Vera. Ever since then , she has learnt and remember her lesson well. 🤣🤣🤣
I shuddered whenever i see parents feeding their kids while their broad is hooked on the ipad/gadgets. We aren't their slaves. We need to teach them how to fish, instead of giving them a fish a day. There's a lot more to parenting and unless we learn to let go, they will forever be the baby we think they are.
P/S: we probably push our kids (especially joy) more compared to their peers. But it also bcoz of this, that has made them more dependable n independent.
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