The merry month of March is almost over. In the Philippines that means two things: summer vacation and graduation/recognition rites.
We have our own school age kids so last week my husband and I took a day off from work to attend the boys’ moving-up day. We are always happy to join the boys in their school activities (although I’ll admit that the days prior to the actual event are usually stressful because both of us need to clear our schedules to accommodate the boys’).
Very early into our marriage, my husband and I have agreed not to put too much pressure on the kids when it comes to their studies. As much as we want them to bring home medals and ribbons, we think it is just as important that they enjoy and experience their childhood unhampered by any pressure from us. That’s not to say though that we don’t monitor their performance or nag them to do their assignments because we also don’t want them to take their studies for granted. We just don’t want their lives to solely revolve on their studies and miss out on other things that are just as important to their growth and development.
We really enjoy it whenever they make it to the top of the class. I mean, what parent wouldn’t be filled with pride and happiness over his/her child’s accomplishments? We don’t “require” them to bring home medals at the end of the school year, but when they do it just makes my heart fill up to the brim.
I will always be proud of my kids no matter what. Even when Kuya M is down to third place (from first) and Kuya R is out of the list altogether, they will never stop making me proud. But on moving-up day, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed all the same. Not with the boys, but with myself.
Since October last year, most of my attention went to taking care of our little Yna and had very little time and energy left to help the boys review their lessons or prepare for their examinations. There were even times when I snapped at them for even the smallest of things.
I failed my boys.
But like I always tell them, it’s not healthy to dwell on the past. If you make a mistake, learn the lesson then move on as quickly as possible. And boy, did I learn my lesson!
I will stick to my resolve not to pressure my boys but now I know to get help for them and myself. Because I cannot not take care of the baby, I can hire them a tutor or enroll them online so they can just click http://eduboard.com/science/chemistry/ or whatever subject it is they need help with.
Nothing beats personal supervision, but I should accept that I cannot do everything myself and learn to get help. It might be an additional strain on the family budget but as long as my kids would benefit from it, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for them.
Photo Credit: How is My Face?
