Instilling values in them

I loved children.

Maybe I don't love them as much as I did last time. Or probably it's the kind of children we get these days.

They are too spoilt! They don't have to lift a finger to do any work, they whine and complain about trivial stuffs and yet, they get to go for holidays and treats at least once a year.

But heck, they are my children, and I still love them so much.

The other day, I had dinner with my kids and 2 others. 1 of them, 11yo boy, loved the steamed eggs so much that he kept on scooping it into his plate of rice. I said to him, "there are still others who hadn't taken the eggs yet, must leave some for the rest, you know?" He said that he loves it, it's his favorite dish and his granny would cook this for him all the time and let him have all he wants. I sure wanna slap that fler!

Then again, my kids might behave the same way too! *gasp* I am so used to filling their meals with the proper portion of each dishes served and they just have to finish them off. It's a habit which is rather hard to change, but I believe I ought to.

When they were young, I worried that they didn't take enough food or eat too much of one dish and not balanced and hence, I would just serve them what they need to finish up and usually they do, whether they love it or not.

But it doesn't teach them table manners, of how they shouldn't be taking only the food they like without leaving some for others or crossing hands when someone else is taking theirs or that they should be taking the food nearest to them preferably or digging inside the dish (NOT) for whatever part they wanted.

Sometimes I just catch korkor doing all those and it makes me mad. But who am I to blame but myself? Yes, I should stop this habit of serving their whole meal everyday like what I'm doing now.

Then there was this other time I asked korkor nicely to help me do a very simple chore while I was busy cleaning up after cooking dinner and serving them. He whined and complained and sighed that it fumed me up!

I gave them a piece of my mind later.

It's so important for them to learn, it's not how smart and how many As they get in their exams to go far and happy in their lives.

They don't need to do any single chore at all at home and yet! In fact, they should be asking me what they can help me to do while I busied myself tending to their needs. They would be turning into spoilt and useless brats very soon, just like other children who have maids to order around these days and they wouldn't know how to do or want to do anything when they grow up.

Please, my children, keep these few pointers in your mind..

1. To have good manners.
2. To be considerate of people around you
3. To appreciate the value of money and the importance of financial management.

I don't care so much whether you score straight As or get into the smartest class. I'll be proud of you anyhow as long as you have good morals and remember what I keep repeating.