Letter from the past

24 September 2007 @ 11:22 am
Categories: Uncategorized
Posted by Simon

Hi People

Want a little bit of nostalgia? As I was going through some old stuff, separating the good from the bad and ugly, I came across some great stuff - a letter from the past. I had kept a copy of a letter I sent out to some friends, some 17 years ago! Let me post it here, almost verbatim, save for the disguised names.

“Dear A & B

Received your letter about X going to preschool. Sounds like daddy A & mummy B are going to be real pros in raising kids. Like they say, if you can live with kids, you can live with any crises. Good to hear that X & Y and their parents are doing well.

S1 got himself an expensive toy recently, this glorified typewriter he calls his PC. Everyday R will come up to his daddy and plea in a most professional beggar-like manner, hands clasped, head tilted just slightly and with drooping eyes, “Daddy, can I play with your computer, please, Daddy, pleeeease?”

We got 4 new bikes since September! It started with M2’s birthday present. Then came M1’s and when R usurped M2’s, we had to buy a new one for her and ended up getting one for S2. I must say she is a determined gal, mastering how to balance on a two-wheeler all in half an hour at the park near our home. Now the family can enjoy another form of outdoor activity which is altogether healthy, fun and together.

M1 will be having exams in October. But the good thing is that it will be over within a week and school hols will follow in another two weeks. The kids will have fun for 6 weeks whilst their mummy will be wrecked. Mummy is responsible for M1’s Chinese lessons at home while Daddy plays cards with the two girls to improve their maths. The environment at home is sufficient to provide the children with a good English foundation. The proposed changes in the education system with primary school going CL1, that means Chinese will be taught as a first language is driving S2 angry.

Yes, the Lord is good.

Bye, for now.

S1, S2. M1, M2 and R and our latest addition, Gracie.

Oct 17, 1990″

Isn’t parenting awesome? You plant and water for some 18 years (with God providing the sunlight), then sit back and watch them bear fruits. What kind of fruits? Good, bad or ugly. Only time will tell. Good luck and God bless you in your parenting!

Comments (3)

Going Bananas

18 September 2007 @ 9:05 pm
Categories: Uncategorized
Posted by Simon

Hi People

Early this year my elder brother gave me a little banana tree to plant in my backyard. It was no more than knee high. He said it would bear fruit in a month’s time. I believed him. I should have known better, knowing he is a joker.

Fast forward 9 months and the tree is now taller than I. It has begun to fruit. One comb after another just kept on layering. If only young Singaporean couples would ‘fruit’ that prolifically! After some weeks and 8 layers later, I still felt it was taking too long to ripen and I could not wait to harvest it. Instead at the bottom end of the comb, another new bunch was forming.

I could not wait any longer and called up this brother of mine. He laughed and said to chop it off, and the bananas would ripen. Luckily I clarified further with him. Chop it off and the bananas will ripen? What he meant was for me to chop off the new bunch at the end, otherwise the nutrients will pour into this dud of a bunch and the upper one would not ripen. No wonder it looked malnourished and I wondered when we could ever taste our home grown bananas!

before…

b211 after!

I guess there are 2 lessons to be learnt here. Sometimes in life, we need to chop off what appears to be good fruit, in order for the real fruit to flourish. If we are living a crowded lifestyle, is there an area where we need to chop off? The second lesson is to listen to sound advice.

As a personal application, perhaps I should pay heed to a close friend. He recently advised me. “It is not only important to listen to those around you - your supervisors, your family & friends, you must listen to yourself. Most important, however, you must listen to God. What people around you want is important. What you want is more important. But what God wants is most important.”

Lesson learnt. Chop it off and move on.

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