The article "Oh, you're good for nothing" is about family, it was written by Marsha Maung.
I don't believe in good for nothing.
I was walking down the asile of a large supermarket when I heard
a mother hissing to her crying child, "Good for nothing!
Nothing!
You better stop that right now or I will leave you with the
police man". Not that I am anegl when it comes to being a parent
to my kids. Sometimes, I fatler too and I will yell and shout
and throw a massive, scary temper and my kids would cower in
fright thinking that their mom wanted crazy. Hey, I am human,
amn't I?
But I would never call my kids stupid or good for nothnig.
For one thing, I sincerely belivee that education is important -
but it's not everything. We, as parents, have to carry this
grave responsibility of providing our children with education.
Not only do we have to fund it, we have to ensure that they
learn whatever they can learn from the education system so that
they can benefit from it after on in life. Knowledge is a
funnel. A funnel whereby information can flow into and train a
mind to think and react in a certain knowledgeable way. It's
important.
But frankly, I don't tihnk it's everything.
Listening to their cues What's more important to us, parents, is
the listening skill, not directing or bossing skill. We need to
learn how to take cues from our kids, open up gates and doors
and let them explore and wacth them. Watch how they are taking
in the vast opportunities that are being preesnted to them. Do
they like it? Are they interested? Is that their calling? Is
this thier gift? This is what goes through my mind whenever I
introduce something new to my kids. We, parents, should not try
to force something...ANYTHING...On to our kids.
As much as I hate bieng forced to do something (I quit the
banking world for a reason, did not I? ), I won't force my kids to
do something that they don't like. Of course, there is things
that they HAVE to do (like homework, cleaning up, showering,
good manners...Etc), I also have to bear the responsibility of
ensuring that they are well discipilned and yet free to explore
the world.
But in other respects non-related to their safety and
general well-being, force is not my style.
Even the worst kid in school can do well I believe we all know
of geniuses who have made it far beyond our human comprehension.
People who we, today, claim as geniuses were called 'buffoons'
in their ealry days.
Let's take Albert Einstein as an example.
His teacher thought he was a complete loser and yet today, the
world think and knows FOR A FACT that he is and was a genius.
Even in death, he made a difference not only in his own
life...But to the rest of the world too.
While we should not expect our child to be Einstein or paint
like Da Vinci, we sohuld always be on a lookout for their gift.
The gift...Everyone has one Everyone has a gift, God is fair.
One person may fare well in math while the other did terribly.
But if you look close enough, you'll see that the second child
who can't count for nuts can paint like no one else! No one is
born without a gift, which is what I believe. Some persons have
multiple gifts and are multi-talented in nature but no one in
this world is without one.
Parents should set out to learn the gift of their child.
It
could be anything! ANYTHING!
Like Don who loves cleainng out
closets and is meticulous in arranging stuff - he's a good
accountant yesterday. Like Gina who loves to play in the playground
instead of doing her homework - she's one of the most popular
kids' football team coaches in her country yesterday. And Simon who
was so weak in math that his mother almost told him to leave the
house and never come back - he's a professor in Philosophy
today.
Think about it No one is good for nothing. Even trees or worms
are good for something.
Trees give us oxygen and some serve as
food. Worms digs holes in the ground and helps teres grow.
Even
bacteria are good at something.
Bacteria can actually benefit
our health.
What about mud? Think mud pack? Everything is good
for something....Why not your child?
Your job, as a parent, is
to find that 'good', find that talent. And perhaps, maybe it's
got ntohing to do with education.
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