Under Pressure

I have been out of school roughly fifteen years ago but somehow I always feel attached to it. Like a tattoo - school works, professors and assignments, never left me. It somehow faded or changed color but it is still there.

Doing school work has been a part of me since I was in elementary. It is an everyday routine and always an element of my regiment. I was fortunate that my siblings taught me the importance of having ‘homework time’, even if it meant not being able to watch favorite TV shows or not being able to play street basketball. They always tell me the importance of being prepared for school. I always dreaded the day when I don’t have any homework or school project to submit. You know, the hardest part of it is pondering on which alibis to use to your teacher and sticking to it to the very end. And I tell you that I am not good at it.

Therefore, when it comes to my kid’s schooling, I always see to it that their school works, projects, visual aids and reports are always with my go signal. I serve as QA Manager at their school works and I’m kinda making a good feel out of it. Sometimes my wife would imply a joke that I enjoy doing school projects more than my kids. I would always answer it with a smile.

The other night I slept around 1AM due to the unfinished assignment of my kids that needs my attention. It was kinda hard battling fatigue and sleepiness while finishing the item but I still managed to finish the assignment. Which brings me to a point – should I continue helping my kids do their school works and make them reliant on me or should I let them on their own and developed their being independent?

Well, as far as the question is phrased, I think most would answer the latter. Parents should guide their kids, however kids need to make decisions on their own to develop their self-esteem. And the best way to start giving them these decision-makings is from school works and projects. Each correct decision would add a little sense of worth for them. But be very aware that each wrong decision that they would formulate on the other hand, can break or make them, which brings me to the first argument.

Continue helping your kids up to the point that you think they can make it on their own. As the song goes, it’s a wild world out there; your kids might not be equipped enough to carry and handle failures and pressure. Parents should be able to help them carry the load until they can manage. But when do we stop helping them? I don’t know for others but for me, it’s up to the point that I can no longer help them.

I can spend sleepless nights and I can endure pain, pressure and fatigue but I can’t withstand the sight of my kids being helpless. It pains me more than it hurts them. Pathetic it may seem, but they’re the best that I’ve got and this is the best that I can offer to them. 

Why do I feel attached to school? Simply because I am their father.