Teach them to be independent.

While I was at the hill this morning I met a guy who told me how good it was to work out at the hill. The fast walk up the hill helps to relax him and dissipate the pressure that one of his children was putting on him.

According to this guy, his child was a young man of twenty-three years. The child depends upon him for everything; even things to do with his family. Imagine, the young man even phoned him in the middle of the night a few days ago when his pregnant wife's pain indicated that it was time to be taken into the maternity ward for delivery.

Well, I had a good laugh at that. The time was not right to give him a talk on teaching independence. So, I merely suppressed my laughter and smiled with concern at his problem.

See what can happen when we do everything for our children, baby-sitting them until their body is already physically matured? None of us would want our children to be like that poor guy's kid. And, mind you, this is not the first time such a thing has happened. Some thirty years ago, when I was in Kodiang and courting my wife, a similar incident occurred with the son of my wife's landlord.

So, let us think of allowing our children to gradually take on some responsibilities in the home as well as make simple decisions such as the choice of clothes, shoes and places to go to for holidays. Such practices will help the child think of making right as well as good decisions. The process, as less and less bad decisions are made while better ones are produced, will give the child lots of self-esteem and confidence in decision making. Of course, the child may turn to the adults for advice and perhaps enquire the reason for the opinion given before making the final decision him/her self. This ought to be encouraged as that is how good leaders seek solutions; by listening, understanding the various angles to approach the problem and with better understanding thought such brain-storming, decide on the best possible solution.

Let us teach our children early so that they can benefit from it throughout their life. Any ideas how this can be improved are always appreciated.