A Grown Up Child's Wish

I recently got forwarded this powerpoint presentation called a Parent's Wish; wonder how many of you have seen it. It is basically a 'poignant' (as quoted by the email given me) reminder of how parents' want to be understood by their children. I thus must quote that the home page states clearly that "Recommended viewing for children whose parents suffer from old age diseases (parkinsons, alzheimers, dementia)"

Having said that, i feel that although i dont have parents that suffer from the above degenerative diseases, i think children my age of any parents deserve to have a powerpoint presentation of our own. In it, i will refute some of the common arguments put forth by parents on how their children do not understand them. I am not saying that all parents are bad and all 20 year olds are filial; i am just saying that the condition where one side is right & the other wrong is outdated and should be reviewed. Both parties should review the goals that they want during this time where children grow into adults and have their own mindsets. The parents want to be understood and know that they are still valued. This latter point is clearly showcased in the powerpoint with the first couple of slides taking a somewhat accusatory position of the parents.

It states that children should have patience and try to understand their parents and children should remember how parents had to keep dressing and feeding their kids. Similarly, just as parents read the same story countless times over and over again to their kids, it is akin to how they keep repeating their same sentences (nagging).

I guess a lot of people will go into the cyclical argument of when our parents were teenagers they probably did the same thing and were impatient with their own parents. That may well be true but again we degenerate into a who is better than the other type of argument that cannot be proven and makes the situation worse. Obviously, if you think carefully about the parallels drawn in the presentation, the argument is no doubt flawed. Parallels often are, thats why they are analogies and should be thought over. Reading a book to a child is infinitely different qualitatively compared to repeating instructions to adults. For one, the child is fascinated every time the repetition is made; thats why he/she wants to be read to again. The adult if nagged at shows obvious distate/ irritation hence the unhappiness expressed in the ppt.

I propose this: The adult does not like the child (possibly grown up) to be unhappy about repetition cos old ppl tend to be forgetful or care about their children and thats why they repeat certain things. Fair enough; but this has to work both ways. The child now obviously understands and in all likelihood would have carried out the instruction already. The compromise would then be for children to explain/speak NICELY that yes, 1. They have done the deed or/and 2. They have been told before.

Parents (obviously this ppt was made for Alz who would more likely forget) should then 1. acknowledge WITHOUT getting upset that their children understand the request and 2. Not be offended to be pointed out that they have indeed repeated this instruction many times. In essence, this is understanding that people do get frustrated when told the same thing many times; this indication of repetition is not an insult to who the parents, their character, or how well they have raised their kids.

Both parties now reach their own separate goals, the parents are valued for their opinion and although it has been repeated the child can state that in a no-anger sort of way allowing the parent to be more aware that this instruction need not be re-directed. Obviously with Alz this is harder but then as a disease, the children should train to be more patient, just like you wont begrudge an Asthmatic his/her inhaler.

I apologise for taking this ppt out of context as it is made for a more medical audience in mind but i would continue tomorrow with some dissection on common misconceptions about grown-up children and their parents attitudes towards one another. Also, some debate on how best to solve such misconceptions as evidenced from other ppl's personal experiences would be helpful.

Singaporean's food

This shop is creatively named ' Mr Prata' and the shop owner is clearly very confident of serving good food. It wasnt too ex actually cos the plain prata is $1 and its an air con environment. But i wonder how much did making the sign cost.

Demotivation is always in fashion.

New year: same old demotivational me.

Missionary Styling

Hello everyone,

Its a new year and a new year of blogging. With the new year comes a new year hair cut. Which is the same style as the previous 5 years but only called a new year haircut because it is cut in January. Maybe next year i will get dreadlocks like the new year show: Alien vs Predator 2. Only that next year it will be an old show.

This year i tried a new hair dressing shop, it was super cheap at only $8. Cheaper than the QB house and wat not $10 for 10 min haircuts. That are supposed to be cheap and good. I think the only thing really good about those 10 min shops are the compartments where all sorts of contraptions come out to aid with your hair cut. I am particularly impressed with the final hair sucking vacuum that extends out of nowhere to give you a non-balding/non-falling hair misconception after your haircut. No, i am not very enamoured with the free comb, which i think is why they dont give them anymore, do they?

The strange thing about my $8 haircut was that at the end, the hairstylist gave me a calender. Which i mean is not really the most congruent gift with hairdessing like a comb is. But, it was the new year. Having said that, i turned to the other side and it was actually a missionary calender, entitled "Prayer for a New Beginning". It goes something like this: Dear God (with a capital G which allows me to take it seriously),

Thank you for loving me. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son Who came and lived a perfect life among us. I know i have not lived a perfect life. I ask for your forgiveness for my sins and self-willed behaviour. I believe that Jesus died for me... (rather long, sorry for editing), I commit myself to following You the rest of my life. Thank You for hearing my prayer. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I really find it commendable that people are standing up for their faith but i couldnt help but notice that there were many different types of calenders that were used as gifts. I wonder why the hairstylist chose (if he indeed did calculate his decision) to give me this particular one. Maybe he feels God's direction while cutting my hair. Which is absolutely fine, hairdressing could definitely be a calling. Or maybe it was 1pm, i hadnt shaved and was dressed shabbily and looked like a junkie.

Either way, its a new beginning of blogging and maybe some styles need to change.