Every couple’s dream is to be perfect parents. As soon as a tiny clone of them comes out and sees the daylight, overwhelming feelings of happiness and fear grip their hearts. They become obsessed with becoming perfect parents. So they can mould their own perfect children.
I was no exception to that melee. Admittedly, I pored on numerous How To books on parenting. I learned a lot from them, but more often than not, I got more confused and anxious on what and what-not to do. In the end, it was still our gut feeling and instinct we chose to rely on. Some worked. Some didn’t.
If I were to tweak some of the things we have done as parents, I think I would change some things.
1. Limit video gaming. We allowed the Kiddos to play video games. Too much. They have Playstation, Wii, PSP, Nintendo 3Ds, not to mention their own laptops each. Because of this, they don’t know how to even play patintero, piko, and Pepsi/7-Up. But there’s a catch: On school days, we limit their game time only on weekends. Weekdays are no-gaming (and TV) days for them. Now, they rarely touch the game consoles. I think they finally got tired of roleplaying on the screen. Nasawa rin sila!!!
2. Teach them the love for the Filipino language. Because the Hubby has been transferred from city to city, and we didn’t want them to be confused with the different dialects, we decided to talk to the Kiddos in English. Since birth. It was cute at first since they sounded like they came from abroad. Reality set in when they entered school and had to deal with their Filipino subjects. They couldn’t understand anything! I even had to get a tutor to teach them Filipino! The youngest blamed me for talking to them in English, not Tagalog (e, purong Tagala pa naman ang nanay nila!), since they had a hard time understanding the native language. But now, they are getting by, although they have adapted a strange accent when they speak Filipino. Sabi nga ni Rizal na kinanta naman ni Florante, “Ang hindi raw magmahal, sa sariling wika…” Guilty as charged. (See my September 4 post for my full penitence on this)
3. Don’t give them junk and fast food. Strict parents swear off French fries, pizzas, and hamburgers to the high heavens. A responsible parent should ONLY give their kids organic and healthy food, with lots and lots of fruits and veggies. My kids wallowed in Happy Meals and collected the come-on toys. For how could the Kiddos have ignored the orange bee mascot smiling and waving at them? And how could we have ignored the kids’ requests? So like hypnotized zombies, we followed the scent of Chicken Joy and McSpaghetti. Gourmet food is as foreign to my family as Paris. I still think there’s nothing wrong with eating fast food once in a while though.
4. Train them to be more independent. When I was young, I knew how to ride the jeepney alone at the age of 10. When the Kiddos were 10, they still had yayas running after them and watching them like a hawk. It’s a dangerous world we are living in, that was our rationale. So now, the Daughter is just starting to learn the ropes of public transportation, and she’s learning it the hard way. You know what happened to her awhile back—she fell from the jeepney.
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| Happy times in Davao with Yaya Daisy and Yaya Inday |
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| Bench shirt A/X Skirt Celine Flats |
So obviously, we have not been A-list parents as far as these things are concerned. But hey, they still turned out to be smart, conscientious, and God-fearing young people. So maybe we have been doing more right things here. We have provided the best education we can afford. We have given them a warm and safe home. We have always made them feel loved.
I may not be judged as a perfect parent, but I know I have perfectly imperfect children.
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