I missed my late morning posting today because I have been very busy with my younger boy. Last week, he won third prize for the district level spelling competition and today is the state finals. At 11.45am, I had to bring him home from school, give him lunch, calm his nerves and then took him to Wellesley Primary School where the state finals for Spelling, Choral Speaking, Story Telling are being held whilst the Singing competition was held at Island Girls' School. Last year, his team won first prize for the state finals while he lost in the tie-breaker for third place.
As I have not been feeling well for the past few days, I left him at the school with a mobile phone and requested his friend's mom to bring him home. Barely had I reached home when he called and said,"Mom, take me home. I didn't make it."
Halfway there, he called me and said he was coming home with his friend's mom. The minute he came home he was ranting away about the unfairness in the level of difficulty of the words. He lost out when he could not spell 'whimsical' but the one who could not spell 'abdomen' qualified for the finals in KL.
He is still very upset and I feel for him like any mother do. I said to him, "Son, life is full of mysteries, chances and if's and misses. We have to pick ourselves up and move on. Even if we do not win, it is the process of learning and losing that makes us wiser. As for unfairness, it exists everywhere..."
I am not overly upset about him losing but I am upset about the inconsistency in the level of difficulty of words. How could some of the words given be as easy as 'obey' and 'middle' while my boy got 'whimsical'? There should be some consistency eg in the number of syllables and if root words are to be used. Obviously, there is none.
It does not matter to me that he did not make it to KL. Secretly, I am relieved cos if he did, he would not want me to follow and if so, I would be worrying away. Yet, I am sad that he is sad :-( because he is my boy.
Anyway, give me time to recover. The next sopo post will be up by 7pm. Thanks for reading. Take care and have a lovely evening.
14 comments to A MOTHER'S TEARS
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Johan H Hmm... could the willingness to accept inconsistencies and unfairness as part and parcel of life be another opportunity to cultivate wisdom? Here's wishing you get well soon, and for junior to get back his smile. :-)
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Tak Malu Bung Mokhtar pleads guilty to unconsented polygamy.
Shame! Shame! Shame!
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Anonymous “The determination to win is the better part of winning.”
~~ Daisaku Ikeda
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Unknown Dear Catherine
Thanks! I am always proud of him because he has learnt to stand on his own two feet since he was 2.5 yrs.
While I went overboard in giving too much love to my older one, I learnt my lesson well and allowed this younger one to grow at his own pace. I do not teach him at all and leave him to his devices but I do talk to him and give him the guidance and moral principles he needs.
Truly, he has been a blessing and I learnt a lot about parenting from my boy!!!
Take care and God bless you.
Cheers
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Unknown Dear Johan
Oh yes - you are spot on in your comment. Thanks. I did tell him that life is full of inequalities in many areas and we just have to brace ourselves for the storms that come our way. I am proud of him because I know he tried his best, prepared himself for it and I never ever had any hand in preparing him for any exam because I believe that he has to take responsibility for his learning. Of course I secretly peep to check if he is working :-) and so far, he has not disappointed me. He is only 12 but can make Hokkien mee (I blogged about that) and cook a full meal for us!
As a former educator, I am very fussy about consistency, uniformity and standards :-) and I guess that part of me cannot die haha...
Thanks. I am off to see the doctor again after responding to comments. Junior is ok now thanks!
Take care and know that I am touched by your caring words or wisdom.
God bless.
Shalom
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 5.35pm
Thanks for the words of wisdom. I have passed on the message to junior and he said "Thank you, Uncle/Auntie."
Take care and God bless you for your kindness. Do keep in touch.
Cheers
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Unknown Dear Tak Malu
Thanks for that alert! I have blogged about it thanks to your input. Take care and God bless your kind heart to keep me posted about the latest developments.
Have a lovely evening.
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 6.38pm
Thank you once again for the sharing the wisdom of Daisaku Ikeda.
Take care and know that this quotation has touched my son's heart and mine too.
As always, do keep in touch.
Thanks.
Best wishes
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Unknown Dear IWC
Thanks for the song! Take care and God bless you.
Cheers
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Cat-from-Sydney Oh...my darling Nick. No matter what, you're always the best. OK? mmmwwwwwaaaahhhh....purrr....meow!
Loving you always,
Angelina & Brad
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Unknown Dear Angelina and Brad
Nick is at school but he always think of the two of you and was just grumbling away about not having a pet. So I said I would get him hamsters and he said - No, mom. I want a cat - like Angelina!!!
*stunned*
Now how in the world can I do that?
Each time we drive around the neighbourhood, he will be on the lookout for kittens to adopt.
See the impact you have had on his life???
Thanks for the kind words, sweethearts. Take care and know that we love you both too!!!
Have a great day.
Salam
Catherine What a proud mother you are!