Sunday, August 20, 2006

On Marriage

"Don't ever marry because you feel obligated to."
For example, you've dated A for as long as you can remember. A proposes and you say, "yes" because you feel that you've invested so much time and emotions already! Mom gave example of neighbours who dated 14 years, got married and divorved after 3 months! What a waste! which brings us to Mom's next pearls of wisdom:
"Don't marry out of pity, or that he loves you more etc."

On Parenting

"Mom and Dad should always be a united front."

"Don't let your child be the boss of you."
I've seen the way a baby who was about a year old plus manipulate her mom: Mom leaves baby with grandma to go for a haircut. Baby cries a little when Mom leaves but starts playing and is happy until the moment she sees Mom at the gate. She starts crying and throwing a tantrum by trying to hit her head on the floor. Wow! She was perfectly fine before. I am not saying that the Mommy should ignore the child and not carry her but the point I am trying to make is that some toddlers are good at working their mommy.

This advice is particularly true for when you go shopping and your child wants some item you
a. can't afford to buy OR
b. don't want to buy
and your child begins to cry his/her head off. What do you do? If you buy the item, your child will learn that he/she can control you by crying his/her head off.

My mom says to let him or her cry, just ignore the cries. The cries will stop after some time. The child can't cry forever. Or you can distract the child with something you do want to buy and is better for the child. Explain, if the child can understand. Tell him/her that everyone is looking at him/her, saying/thinking, "Pity the Mommy and Daddy to have a naughty boy/girl like that"

"Explain."
If you've scolded your child or punished him/her, always hug your child later and explain why he/she was punished. Always check if the child understands, that let your child know that you love him/her.

On Courtship

"If you are not happy during courtship, what makes you think you'll be happy when you're married."
"Love is NEVER blind, it's YOU who has chosen NOT to see."
"Don't judge a man based on how he treats you during courtship. If you want to know what a man/ person is really like, observes how he treats the waiter, or waitress or beggars, his parents, his siblings, friends, etc."
"You cannot change a man...unless HE wants to change."