About having a kid
School holiday starts tomorrow and today’s Sunday Times has, errr … rather interesting articles on kids.
They talk about how kids during the holiday will start ‘invading’ shopping malls, cineplexes, restaurants, supermarkets. They’ll run around, play on public floors, make a scene. In short, the articles talk about kids being out of control and their usually unacceptable behaviours in public places.
And the words used to describe this kids related experience? Brat Pack, Little shop of Horrors, Terror attacks, etc.
Now, before I say anything, here’s an extract from one of the articles:
Parents do not spend enough time with their children and the maids cannot take the role of a disciplinarian because they are hired help …
After a hard day’s work, the last thing parents want to do is to fight with their kids. Basic boundaries are not set, so their children learn to do whatever they like.
Also because many parents spend less time with their child, they cannot read his body languange to know when he is about to snap out of control.
It’s actually sad to see how kids are being depicted in such a widely read newspaper like the Sunday Times. And the worse thing about it all, I feel parts of the articles are actually true!
Many parents say that they both need to work fulltime because the cost of living here in Singapore is high. And so they hire a maid to look after the baby. The parents then work day and night and by the time they get home, there’s usually so little time (and energy) left to even interact with the kid. And I’m not even talking about spending time to get to know your own kid, her progress and development, etc.
And so the kid grows up, learning from the TV programmes the maid watches or the many tuitions and enrichment classes the parents send her to.
Observing the increasing trend in today’s society (husbands and wives not being able to spend enough time with their kids), I feel sad knowing that the majority of these kids will eventually grow up, craving for their parents’ love, attention and time.
They may be fed with highly nutritious food, sent to the best schools and classes, play the latest games in the market and wear the trendiest clothes. But when they come home, who do they come to? The TV? The maid? Who can they talk to when they have questions? Who will teach them what’s right and what’s good?
Yes there’s a lot to parenting. But I have to say though that it’s not all about having enough money.
