Eating ampalaya and Parenting
10:00:00 PM
While
the physical demands of being a parent is really arduous, I believe
that shaping them into well-rounded and morally grounded
individuals is more grueling. How the heck am I supposed to do this
when half of the things I SHOULD teach him I don’t actually believe
in? How can I convince him to follow stuff I don’t? How do I tell
him to eat
ampalaya when I wouldn’t even touch this awful
vegetable?
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Ginisang Ampalaya (sauteed bitter gourd) Picture from here. |
When a kid or playmate hits you, NEVER hit back. Tell your mommy or that kid’s mommy about it.
One
day, I saw him with small bruises on the left side of his forehead
so I asked him how he got them. He said our neighbor’s kid did it.
Of course I wanted to beat the shit of this kid but I probed more.
Julian saw this kid with his toy and demanded that he get it back.
The kid didn’t want to and when Julian insisted, he hit him with
something, thus the bruises. I asked Julian what he did after. He
just said that he punched the kid. I wanted to hand him a trophy
that says: Great job for punching that kid who gave you bruises!
But of course I had to restrain myself and give him some advice I
myself would never listen to at any given time. I told him that he
shouldn’t have hit him back, instead, he should’ve went to the
kid’s mom and told her what happened. I was proud of myself for
about two seconds for sounding like a true adult, when I realized
that the kid’s mom is a total lunatic.
Eat healthy.
The
only time I ate cooked ampalaya was
during one Christmas and my mom dared me to eat half of a small
plate of it for 500 bucks. DEAL! I don’t remember how I managed to
do it but I did. I hate it when my mom talk about vegetables like
they’re the only good thing left on earth to eat. Also, when your
kid is as picky with food as you, just how on earth do you make him
eat healthy stuff? I'm already elated when he asks for a peanut
butter sandwich.
No TV.
I just
read in an
article that kids who watch Spongebob Squarepants experience
attention and learning problems. Well, great! We just happen
to love Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward, and the rest of Bikini
Bottom! I absolutely agree that TV shows can greatly influence
kids on a lot of things and in a lot of ways. I always read about
the negative effects of TV but I don’t think I’ve ever come
across one that says the other way around. We learn a lot from
it. What we do with what learn is a different story. I guess,
watching TV worked for Julian because we watch with him so we get
to explain to him if something’s off. Also, he’s a bright kid. He
knows the difference between funny and stupid. The only time I
don’t let him watch TV is when he’s being punished for
something.
My
point is, simply, rules are there as a guide, not absolute truths.
So what if he gets into fights? As long as he’s not the one who
started it, then we’re good. So what if all he eats are peanut
butter sandwiches and eggs? We’ll invest in a lot of vitamins. So
what if Patrick’s absolutely dumb? Julian only laughed at his dumb
antics and never imitated them but he knows he’s a good friend to
Spongebob.
I’m
awful at parenting? Yeah, maybe you’re right. But guess what, at
some point, ANY parent would suck. I’m raising my kid as best as I
know how and as long as I don’t overdo anything, I say I’m good.
And vegetables really suck.
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