A to Z Challenge
A TO Z OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
One of my neighbors was wondering as to why I was working when I do so much at home already. I told her that first of all I like to work and secondly I think that it is nice to have some experience in case something should happen to my husband. Then I suggested that it would be nice if she also got some work experience. To that she said that she does not have to worry because if anything happened to her husband she could count on her son. I asked her how old was her oldest. As far as I knew she only had a two year old boy. She confirmed that the baby was her first born. I was too shocked to say anything. I was confused as well. My husband then explained to me that a lot of people have kids in the hope that they can make money for them when they grew old. This was the only example I had where someone actually started counting on their offspring as a resource. To me my children are answers to my prayers because I had a lot of love to give them. I never looked at them as a resource for my survival. My husband thinks that it is only a matter of perception. To me, my eyes are resources just like any other sense organ. The idea of the way our mind sees things was something that had never occurred to me. Now I realized that we look at things in so many different ways.
I would always suggest that parents let their kids participate in Shadow days. They will be able to understand and explore their potentials. They will also have a better perception of a job from early on. Then they will be able to look at the world and the different tasks that are done in the way they actually see them instead of depending on what was told to them at home or in school.
10 comments:
I do think children should learn to think for themselves and as parents we should encourage them:-)
I would be perplexed too! I have 4 grown sons and I would never expect them to take care of me..although I know they would try! They are wonderful sons who are always willing to help with projects if needed but they have families of their own (except my youngest) and they are needed there. I agree with you..they are answers to prayers and were brought into this world because we wanted to share our love and life with them and teach them to be independent humans who work and contribute to society. But, as your hubby says..perspective is different for everyone.
You are a very wise woman, my friend. I agree with you about our children. I'm enjoying this series of posts~
While I hope my kids are successful in many ways, they aren't responsible for me, even in old age.
Hi Munir .. we can only do what we do - and others must make their own beds ... but to rely on a child of two seems a little strange! Each to his own .. and perhaps she isn't that qualified, or confident ..
I can see your point though! Cheers Hilary
My spouse and I both hope that we have planned properly to maintain our independence. We never want to burden our children. However, the kids are starting to take a great interest in lovingly starting to "parent" us. Yikes! Definitely their perception is different than ours.
I know many like that...who think the purpose of children is to support their old-age.
In college I studied population growth and population demographics, mostly looking at India and China and comparing those countries with the United States. What we discovered (and has been written upon in scientific journals) is that economics and population go hand-in-hand. In developing nations, a retirement plan is often to have as many children as you can because the expectation is that these children shall support the parents when they are old. In already developed nations, the economics of having children is reversed. In other words, it is extremely expensive to have kids and because of that, parents choose to have smaller families, oftentimes only having two (which does not grow the population because only the parents are replaced) or three which grows the population by a small margin.
This is one piece of the puzzle.
What a combination of ignorance and wishful thinking...
Btw, thanks for sharing the optical illusion. I enjoy staring at them until my mind switches gears.
I think it's sad --what your neighbor said. We have three children. I'm so proud of them--making their own way in the world. I'd never expect them to be my financial plan for the future.
Another good post, Munir :-)
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