Parental Guidance??

I brought my daughter to a spelling contest on this Saturday 9th August. This is the first contest ran by a local private school conjunction with some books sponsors. So, there were about 60 teams in the contest, each team consisted of 3 students. Just imagine, those kids are only 6 years old and they already had to memorize all basic spellings categories such as vegetables, animals, transportation, etc. I was quite amazed by my daughter when she spelled out all those categories to me a day before the contest. I say" Wow!" and I recalled we only learned spelling at Standard 2 or 3, right?? So, kids today have to face pressure at a very early stage. But I told my wife we just have to bear in mind that not to over-pressurize my girl. So, we told her to enjoy the games rather than encourage her to win any prizes.

She managed to compete into 2nd round but couldn't make it into semi-final. Then there were 2 children (same school with my girl) came out crying and told that their parents will not be very happy with only 2nd rounds. The teachers told me that their parents have been chasing around the teachers for weeks to ensure their kids are well-prepared for the contest and a father already gave the impression that his son must be able to enter to final and win something. Gosh, dear! How can we pressurize a 6 year old kid to this level... Sorry to say that I am so sad to hear about it - in fact, I am quite pissed off!!

So, I made a commitment to my wife that day that I will try my best to bring my kids to certify for PADI Open Water Diving when they reach 10 and they can go diving with me and enjoy what God has beautifully created for all of us underwater. We will try our best to make sure they will enjoy their studies as much as leisure activities. Furthermore, I also have more reasons to go diving lor.... hehe :p

To those passionate parents, please feel for your kids as much as you feel yourselves and relax, ok?? Let's Gear up and Dive, dudes...