The interesting discussion over at Joyceyland about the pros and cons of having children brought this song by Harry Chapin to mind. Poignant stuff indeed for those fathers who don't get to see their children grow up.
A Nobel laureate's play in Hong Kong
4 hours ago
8 comments:
That's one helluva great song! Thanks for sharing.
This is one of my favourite songs of all time, particularly moving in the last verse. When old folks retire and finally get time to see their children, but it's the children who are too busy to get together. So real in life!
Just followed your recommendation, Ulaca and read Joyce's discussion on parenting. Then I found your contribution in her site and wanted to quote your last words:
"once trust is lost, it is the Devil's own job to restore." This reminds me of the conversations with my colleague at uni over lunch the other day. This colleague is a super-intelligent chair prof and his wife also works as a chair prof as well. But I was absolutely shell-shocked when I learnt from my colleague that his son was just kicked out from an international school for being caught to have some hash in his school locker! As parents they've been doing their best to try to find another international school but have failed. My colleague's conclusion - too much bad peer influence and he and his wife are now pondering what to do with a teenage kid as a school drop-out in HK. So, educated, intelligent, communicative parents can also fail a 'parent' test, if there's one! And perhaps as Ulaca suggested, 'trust' is utmost important with children.
What's most galling is when grown-up children opt not to see their parents not because they're too busy but because they don't want to ... because they want to demonstrate to their parents what they did to them.
If having your children experiment with marijuana is a sign of failing as a parent, then Barack Obama and Bill Clinton must have had pretty lousy parents. After all, look how badly they turned out...
http://mp3.zing.vn/mp3/nghe-bai-hat/Hang-Out-The-Stars-In-Indiana-Angelo-Badalamenti-Suggs.IWZFDU08.html
Bill Clinton’s step father was a gambler and alcoholic who regularly abused his mother; whereas Obama’s dad was basically an absent father who lived in Kenya most of his life. And, how many teenagers who had experimented with drugs could turn out to be a leader of a country? I think we've seen more of these kids whose life was ruined by the 'experiment' they did!
It makes you wonder what Hillary Rodham's folks got up to to make her turn out the way she has.
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