Patient and Trust

Yi Ren and I have learnt a good lesson in "patient and trust" yesterday when he came home 2 hours late from school.

His class ended at 3:30pm and he was supposed to be home by 4:30pm. When he was not back by 6pm. I was really worried because he does not carry a mobile phone and there was no way I could contact him. Now I am really aksing myself should I or should I not give him a mobile phone? My mind started to grow wild and imagining all kind of bad things that could possibily happen.


I found out from Derrick, his classmate when he called at 6:45pm that Yi Ren went to his place to chat and watch television. Oh my god, how could he go out without my permission. This is unaccetpable to me. At that moment, I was not worried but my anger just rise up to my head.


When he stepped into the house at 7pm, I was using unpleasant tone to question him. He simply replied that he waited a long time for the bus. How could he tell lie like this? Waiting for 2 hours for bus? That was impossible!! I was really mad and was almost screaming by then.


My youngest sister who was with us then told me to cool down and did the "discussion" with Yi Ren. She told him that what we wanted to know is what had happened and what exactly is the reason for him to be home late. I think he was more receptive with the way my sister was asking, he told her that Derrick invited him and he thought that it was ok for him to just drop by for a while. He did not mean to make us worry.

After hearing his reasons, I stressed the important of having mutual trust between two parties. If he is not going to be a responsible person by breaking rules, he is also breaking the bridge that is between us. Of course, I will allow him to play with his friends, but there will be some rules that he has to obey.

For me, I have learnt that it is not easy to be patient with your own kids. You just tends to get frustrated very fast if they are not doing what you expect them to do. But like it or not, we still have to find ways to educate and upbring them in the right manner. Parenting is not an job task.

Before he left for school this morning, he was so cute to tell me that "I think I better call you once I reach home. I am sure you will come home to "spot" check on me. Well, I am sure I will do that. Hahaha