Be Involved In Your Kids Activities

Hi,

We just spent the past 2 weeks supporting Jason in his runs in the school national athletic meet and school sports day.

In the first place, Jason invited us to see him run else no matter how much we want to be present, we would not intrude into his space or privacy.

Also, it helped that we managed to have some time on hand and we are into sports so we were very enthusiastic in supporting him and his school.

The national meet started on Mon 13 Apr and ended on Thu 23 Apr. Jason has to miss school lessons for a few days as he has to be at the stadium a few hours early before his run to get ready and warm up accordingly. Besides, Chao Chu Kang stadium is about 1.5 hours away from home by MRT and bus!

He has to carbo-load and I massaged his legs daily to help him recover and prepare for the next run. When he has his run in the afternoon, we have to time his lunch at least 2 hours before the run. We ate at Pizza Hut to carbo-load him.

My wife was the No. 1 supporter, in the sense that she was also presence in all his runs and was cheering him and his team-mates during the run. We were the only parents present until the final day, we saw a few more parents supporting their kids.

We enjoyed being part of the whole event and being there for Jason. In fact, I thanked him for inviting us and letting us be part of the whole experience. It also reminded me of my school days when I ran for my school too.

Here are a few photos taken during this national meet

Mum on the extreme right and the 2 teachers in-charge of the team. Jason in the background with 2 of his mates.

The 4x400m team with the Coach.

Jason was also in the 4x100m relay team that got into the final too but again, missed out on winning a medal. The team performed better than expected too.

Then Jason's school sports day was held immediately after the national meet, held on Fri 24 Apr.

Jason won a medal for all the 5 events he ran; 2 Golds, 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze.

800m & 4x400m - GOLD

200m & 4x100m - SILVER

400m - Bronze

Again, Mum was the No. 1 supporter and cheering for all the runners we knew from the national meet; shouting their names in front of their parents who were also present. We might have shocked them a bit....ha....ha......

By now, Jason's mates are used to seeing us supporting them.

I took photos and video of all their runs as requested by Jason. His friends would ask him or even me to view their runs.

The 4x400m relay team that won the Gold and broke the school record too!

Through this, we have also met Jason's mates and got to know his circle of friends and a few of their parents, not forgetting the coaches too.

So I hope you can find the time to get involved in your kids activities and take the opportunity to bond with them and also get to know their friends too, and their teachers etc....

David

Letting Go Of Your kids

I just have lunch with a friend who is actively involved with counselling work.

We were talking about teenagers and the problems faced by them and parents.

He made a comment and that was to let them go and do their own thing with minimum supervision.

These teenagers would not appreciate what their parents are trying to advise or guide them, most of the time.

So it is very tough for parents to not try to guide and advise them but at the same time, we do not want to 'nag' them and drive them away from us.

It is tough to be 'perfect' or 'balanced' in letting them go......... sigh

I suppose we, parents, just have to make sure that we are not at the extremes; ie totally neglect our kids or nag them excessively.

I must admit that I too sometimes may have over done it a bit and 'nag' my son thinking that I am sharing with him some of my life experiences.

Importantly, we just have to decide on the maturity of our kids and decide when and what is appropriate to let them do on their own.

Happy parenting........

David

Our Dream And Our Kids Dreams

Hi,

I refer to the following article that appeared int Today papers on Wed 8 April 2009.



In short, what we want our kids to be may not be what they want to be...!

When Jason was young, he wanted to be a WWF wrestler, then EPL soccer player....

He even asked me the possibility of going to UK to pursue his soccer career....!

Lately, he wants to be a Teacher but in Mathematics and not in sports....surprisingly!

I am in the IT profession but I have never tried to get him interested in it and I am not disappointed at all too.

BTW, by sheer coincidence, I played soccer for my secondary school and my father also played soccer at club level. So we have 3 generations involved in soccer.

I also ran 400m and 4x400m relay for my secondary school and Jason happens to be doing the same now...! In fact, he was talent spotted when he came in first during last year cross-country race at Bedok reservoir as his school CCA is soccer.

When I was a Parent Volunteer at his Temasek Primary School and subsequently, a Lecturer in Temasek Polytechnic, Jason was very supportive and proud of what I am doing.

But I have never encouraged him to teach so it must be the respect and influence that he saw in his teachers.....?

So you can see that his ambition was greatly influenced by his environment and parents must also play a part to provide some guidance and help our kids to achieve his dream or ambition if it is a decent and achievable one.

Fortunately, my parents have never forced me to be someone that I would not want to be. Like them, I just want Jason to have a reasonable job that he likes and earn sufficient to support himself and his family.

I still remember a staff of mine telling me that she hates swimming as her parents forced her to train to be a champion swimmer at a very young age.

You could have also read of people handing over the degree certificate to their parents, upon graduation, and then went off to pursue their own ambition or dream job.

I hope you do not want to be that type of parent and make your kids resent you for the rest of their life.

Let your kids pursue their dreams as long as it is a decent one and it provide them 3 meals a day......

Happy Parenting....!

David

SPS Soccer Team - 2nd Place Win

Hi,

We are proud that St.Patrick Secondary 'B' Boys soccer team won the 2nd placing yesterday as I am told that SPS has not done that well in recent years.

We were invited by Jason to watch him play yesterday afternoon at Temasek Polytechnic stadium.

A reserved goalkeeper and utility player too, up field.

A good volley indeed...!

SPS 'B' Boys Soccer Team

David

Celebrate Your Children's Triumphs

Hi,

Came across this interesting article in The New Paper on 5 Apr 2009.

In short, we should celebrate your children's achievements as long as they have given their best.

1st place or a Gold medal is always ideal, but 2nd or 3rd or even completing the race itself is an achievement too for participating in the competition.

Similarly, I may push my son to study for his exam. but on that day itself, I always tell him that he has prepared himself well and so whatever the outcome, we will still love him as he has done his best. We always wanted him to be assured and calm before he sits for his exam.

Though there is a tendency to ask our children how the exam went when they come home, we now just focus on the next paper as it is over so no point to cry over it.

If he has not done well, it would upset him and he may not focus for the next paper. If he claims that he has done well, he may be over confident for the next paper. So the best approach is to move on and tackle the next paper.

2 weekends ago, Jason ran in the 4x100m relay and the team came in first in their heats but missed the final by 0.2 seconds overall. I told him that it was a good run by the team but it was most unfortunate and just focus on the next run ahead. Luckily, he took it quite well.

Later today, I will be supporting his school soccer team in the final match. Win or lose, a medal is assured. I wished him luck this morning and told him that we are proud of his achievements. We wanted to have dinner with him but he asked to celebrate it with his team-mates instead and we agreed to it.

The school has awarded him a certificate of achievement and a medal too for hiscoming in 7th placing in the Nationals 4x400m relay last year. A very good and encouraging gesture indeed!

So remember to be supportive and celebrate all your children's victories, big or small, or even just the mere participation for exposure to the competition.

Happy Parenting.......!

David