I was walking home from school today and when passing through a
park, I noticed a group of kids (probably 1-4 grade) arguing. There
was a big black school bag lying on the path and one kid was walking
round without a bag. The argument was about his responsibility in
carrying his own bag (which I presumed to be the one on the ground).
The kid was complaining that it was too heavy. When asked why he had
packed so much junk, he replied, "It was my mom who packed it!
Tell my mom to pack less stuff then!" By then I was out of
hearing range, but I could still hear them arguing.
My mind chose not to ignore that short exchange. First off, the bag was lying on the ground about 300-400 meters away from the nearest school. It obviously didn't have millions of little feet and wasn't made of Sapient Pearwood, so it didn't make it there by its-self. I began thinking of the probability that the kid (obviously spoiled) had asked one of his friends to carry it for him. That would explain the conversation (if you can call that shouting match a conversation...) and it may help in explaining how the bag succeeded in reaching that far.
I began thinking of how that child was being raised. The very fact that he was irresponsibly leaving his bag on the ground (or in the care of someone else) and the probability that he had dared to ask someone else to carry it for him (because he obviously had no interest in carrying it...) gives a few hints. Let's not forget his words: "... my mom packed it ... tell her not to pack so much, then...!"
So here's a child, who's incredibly spoiled. So his mother packs his bag for him at age 8 or 9. I remember when I was that age I was in 5 grade, where I packed my own bag, covered my own books and walked to school alone. The chances of me leaving my over-sized bag on the road or having one of my friends carry my bag for me were equal to 0. I'm of the opinion that he didn't complain about the weight of the bag in the morning when his mother packed his things for him... I doubt he cursed his mother in school for lack of reading/writing material. And now in the early evening (about 14.00), here he is, complaining about its weight in front of 4 other kids with similar bags similarly filled with books and stuff (bags, which I'm inclined to believe they packed themselves).
This called to mind a situation, where a cousin (aged 3) was walking in the gutter. I told her to walk on the road. She said no. She fell shortly after and cried for five minutes. I told her, again, to walk on the road (after picking her up and dusting her off). She said no again, and continued walking in the gutter.
People frequently ask me what I think of Estonia and the life here compared to Kenya. I doubt my answer has changed much in the two years I've been here... I always say that the quality of living here is pretty good, that the four season set-up is interesting, that the people are friendly, helpful and resourceful and that most of the women are good looking and a load of other stuff for another post. Despite all that, I seem to have something against havind to raise a family here!
I have quite a few reasons for that last statement. To begin with, I dislike the fact that some family members feel the need to spoil children and criticize (negatively) the idea of strictness. How on earth can you raise a child who'll understand that elders are to be RESPECTED and who'll deal with their own stuff, like they should (for example: CARRY THEIR OWN FREAKIN' BAGS, PACKED BY THEIR OWN GRUBBY HANDS) when there's someone who's constantly butting in and countering your instructions?!
My next point is slightly contrary to my previous one, but so what? I, obviously, can't watch over my child 24/7... And so, I'd hope that the people who are with my child at any given time can be trusted with the correcting and teaching of my child. That means that in school the teacher should be looking out, to make sure that my child isn't bullying or being bullied and if one of the previous mentioned is happening, put a stop to it in a fashion that could be permanent! And yet I hear that teachers these days are only paid to try to pour knowledge into their students. All raising and correcting is to be done by parents. Go figure.
My last reason is that I really dislike how people raise their kids round here. And that meant that other people's kids will be a bad influence on mine. I mean, seriously! A parent who packs her son's bag (a son who's old enough to pack his own bag) and doesn't notice that he might feel the bag to be a little too heavy for him...
I'll just leave it there.
My mind chose not to ignore that short exchange. First off, the bag was lying on the ground about 300-400 meters away from the nearest school. It obviously didn't have millions of little feet and wasn't made of Sapient Pearwood, so it didn't make it there by its-self. I began thinking of the probability that the kid (obviously spoiled) had asked one of his friends to carry it for him. That would explain the conversation (if you can call that shouting match a conversation...) and it may help in explaining how the bag succeeded in reaching that far.
I began thinking of how that child was being raised. The very fact that he was irresponsibly leaving his bag on the ground (or in the care of someone else) and the probability that he had dared to ask someone else to carry it for him (because he obviously had no interest in carrying it...) gives a few hints. Let's not forget his words: "... my mom packed it ... tell her not to pack so much, then...!"
So here's a child, who's incredibly spoiled. So his mother packs his bag for him at age 8 or 9. I remember when I was that age I was in 5 grade, where I packed my own bag, covered my own books and walked to school alone. The chances of me leaving my over-sized bag on the road or having one of my friends carry my bag for me were equal to 0. I'm of the opinion that he didn't complain about the weight of the bag in the morning when his mother packed his things for him... I doubt he cursed his mother in school for lack of reading/writing material. And now in the early evening (about 14.00), here he is, complaining about its weight in front of 4 other kids with similar bags similarly filled with books and stuff (bags, which I'm inclined to believe they packed themselves).
This called to mind a situation, where a cousin (aged 3) was walking in the gutter. I told her to walk on the road. She said no. She fell shortly after and cried for five minutes. I told her, again, to walk on the road (after picking her up and dusting her off). She said no again, and continued walking in the gutter.
People frequently ask me what I think of Estonia and the life here compared to Kenya. I doubt my answer has changed much in the two years I've been here... I always say that the quality of living here is pretty good, that the four season set-up is interesting, that the people are friendly, helpful and resourceful and that most of the women are good looking and a load of other stuff for another post. Despite all that, I seem to have something against havind to raise a family here!
I have quite a few reasons for that last statement. To begin with, I dislike the fact that some family members feel the need to spoil children and criticize (negatively) the idea of strictness. How on earth can you raise a child who'll understand that elders are to be RESPECTED and who'll deal with their own stuff, like they should (for example: CARRY THEIR OWN FREAKIN' BAGS, PACKED BY THEIR OWN GRUBBY HANDS) when there's someone who's constantly butting in and countering your instructions?!
My next point is slightly contrary to my previous one, but so what? I, obviously, can't watch over my child 24/7... And so, I'd hope that the people who are with my child at any given time can be trusted with the correcting and teaching of my child. That means that in school the teacher should be looking out, to make sure that my child isn't bullying or being bullied and if one of the previous mentioned is happening, put a stop to it in a fashion that could be permanent! And yet I hear that teachers these days are only paid to try to pour knowledge into their students. All raising and correcting is to be done by parents. Go figure.
My last reason is that I really dislike how people raise their kids round here. And that meant that other people's kids will be a bad influence on mine. I mean, seriously! A parent who packs her son's bag (a son who's old enough to pack his own bag) and doesn't notice that he might feel the bag to be a little too heavy for him...
I'll just leave it there.
A friend succeeded in getting me to change something in the original post. Here you now see a slightly revised version.
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