First Family Parenting

I read with a little amusement Lee Wei Ling's article "Letting go of old prejudices", not about its content but more on some glimpses of her behaviour. In the article she described how in 1995 she had a minor accident whereby she suffered a deep cut on her shin whilst working out in her hotel room in Sydney. She headed out on foot for the first aid centre at the venue where she was attending a convention which was 1.5km away. The guy in charge however directed her to the nearest hospital despite her jeans and socks being soaked with blood. Without finding more about the distance of the hospital, she stalked off. After repeatedly asking strangers about the direction of the hospital she finally found it after walking for 2 hour 15 min and arrived "not a moment too soon" as she described it. Only then did she realise she had no identity documents, cash nor credit cards with her. Fortunately the hospital staff were very kind and went all out to assist her which prompted her recalling the incident and writing this article.

Now I thought to myself, if my children has a similar encounter I would be reprimanding them for their carelessness or foolishness for rushing off without identity document and money, not finding out more about the distance and not getting help from the hotel reception etc etc. I am actually quite amused that even the all powerful MM and his wife can not do much about her rash behaviour. In fact from many of her articles, one can deduce she is quite a risk taker, having encountered and came out of quite a few dangerous situations . I also gathered that her parents still worry about her ability to take care of herself.

I know it is sadistic comfort but it does normalise our limits as a parent in moulding our children's character and behaviour. It somehow also makes this FIRST family seems very real. I think every family does have its own challenges bringing up children :)