Yesterday, my cousin from Canada wrote a letter to me telling about reflections of her childhood. I thought it was interesting and her positive attitude was quite inspiring. So why not share it with others?
My cousin, Kate shared with me about learning to do housework as a kid. Perhaps I should use the words, ‘being forced’.
Kate remembered that she hated her parents when they told her or forced her to do housework. She had to wash the dishes and cook a pot of rice every single day. There were no extra credits. Instead, she received punishments quite a few times. It all started with two phrases, “I’ve forgotten” and “Wait a moment!”.
Whenever she was scolded, two thoughts would plop up to her mind: First, why do I have to handle so many things like housework, study, etc and my parents don’t care about how busy I am? Second, why do I have to do so much housework while my friends can play games and enjoy life?
After ten years, she understood why.
Kate is now studying overseas far away from her parents and friends. She is grateful that her parents had trained her to be independent since she was young. Seeing most of her classmates messing up with all the basic housework made her fully understand the importance of self-control while having good time management.
Last but not least, she grinned, ‘You’ve got to be cruel to be kind.’