Parenting: Speaking Up
A little chat with Brie earlier today.
“Mommy, the other day when I was at the children pool (note: at our apartment), a boy around 5yo told us off. He wanted us to go away and play somewhere else!”
“Oh, then what happened?”
“I told him that the pool is for everyone. He left, came back sometime after, and told us to leave again.”
“Did you leave?”
“No. We were playing there. In the end, he just left. My friends and I left the children pool only when we wanted to play in the big pool.”
“Brie, I am proud of you for standing up and speaking up. You did the right thing. He shouldn’t speak like that to any of you. At the same time, we don’t need to be angry or yell back when someone asks us to do something that we know he shouldn’t. You CAN be at the children pool, and you do NOT need to leave just because someone told you off. Never be afraid to speak up if something is not right.”
…
“Being Indonesian”, it is somehow more common to feel timid, to feel intimidated easilyBeing Asian, or should I say “being Indonesian”, it is somehow more common to feel timid, to feel intimidated easily, when faced against someone with “bigger power”, or someone from a different race (that is often believed as “more superior” than the Asian race).
I don’t know about you, but I believe, if we are wrong, we then must apologise.But if we do nothing wrong, then we should stand firm and speak up.
For example:
We’ve been queueing and someone yells at us, telling us to move to the back because he wants our spot.
Someone continually mocks us verbally and we feel uncomfortable about it.
Someone bullies another right in front of you and the whole thing looks so wrong.
…
At times, we don’t need to make a big fuss, and we should just leave the scene. Not because we are “scared” or intimidated, but more because we choose to not make a big deal out of it, or we choose to stay away and not face someone with unstable mental / emotional condition.
Our children (and us) will face all kinds of “unique situations” day to day.
May God give us all the needed wisdom to face each and every one 
