Parenting 101

I just read an article today in the Sunday Inquirer about College 101. It was written by Cate De Leon. I agree with her 100% that as parents, we should not expect our kids to be copycats of ourselves. We were born in different times, dates, situations, et cetera. It's like forcing yourself to eat something you hate so much. Or doing something that is out of your league. Geez. I just don't understand why some parents still insist that their kids take up the course they took up that made them successful. That doesn't mean that those kids will also succeed in that endeavor, unless they really want that same thing, definitely for different reasons.

There was one time I had this liking to become part of the Cadette Officers Candidate Course, just like my sister. I told myself back then, "If she could do it, why couldn't I?" That stuck in my head for several years until my time came and it was in a totally different scenario.

I was not the top 10 in class nor was I one of the intelligent students. I was just an average kid living a simple life. My sister was more intelligent and she handled a whole battalion as the Battalion Adjutant in her haydays. I became the Delta 2 Platoon Leader during my time. There's really such a big difference.

In other words, I am not my sister. I AM ME. Not my DAD, not my Mom, nor my Brother. I AM ME. I will always be me. I will always think differently than my sister. And that's the way it will always be.

That's why I was lucky to have chosen my career path without people breathing down my neck. I listened to other people then. I wanted photography as a subject so I took up communication arts in De La Salle University Manila and got my wish. And part of the course was writing, which was one of my first loves. So, I knew I was in the right course.

After I graduated, I applied as an account executive, photographer, writer, translator, transcriber and got those jobs that I wanted and I am proud to say that in every job that I was in, I was happy and proud that it was something that I really wanted to do.

I hope you could do the same to your kids too. You want your kids to be happy, right? Make them do the choosing and deciding for themselves and that will make them proud of you as a parent. Believe me, I've been there.

Thank you for reading.