the past and future
Been reading this amazing book that my Dad sent me.
The truth is, I've always been a bit (okay.. a lot) of a lazy girl. As a child, my Dad used to always urge me to watch documentaries with him, or financial news programmes, or ask me to sit with him while he fixed up the computer so he could teach me.
But I'd always been: yeah yeah, whatever. No, later. It's boring etc.
Years later, I'm kicking myself for not having listened to my Dad. I'm wishing my Dad has insisted more firmly, or sat me down and told me seriously how important learning was. The way, he had insisted I learn Mandarin, and his insistence that China will become a great power in 30-50 years' time.
My Dad, in his own more-talk-than-action, easily-stressed out, working class civil servant way, was a visionary. (And I have to tell him that again one day, even if it means I will have to endure him crowing about it for years to come) - That explains why I always say I'm fucking clairvoyant too.. it's in the genes! ;)
Jokes aside..
I love reading, but generally I'm the more dreamy, romantic, literary type and generally read fiction. It takes a lot of effort for me to read non-fiction. But this time, I'm really glad I did.
The book has got me thinking... I think a lot of it is true... and part of me always subconsciously knew a large part of what it says.. but it's great to have it all spelled out. And also.. funnily enough, a lot of it has to do with things that I knew in the past, when I was much younger, and have forgotten in recent years.
I've always been a fairly thoughtful/far-seeing/sensible/mature child. Not in my attitude towards attending classes or finishing homework admittedly, but in other ways. But as I grew older, I forgot all the things that I'd spent my young lonely years (the hours spent alone as an only child made me a deeply/overly introspective and comtemplative) thinking about and concluding on. But strangely enough, recently I've been increasingly reverting to my younger self/intrinsic nature (but that's for another post)
But for now, I'm inspired by the book, and have come up with several more policies and thoughts regarding the way I want to bring up my children in future, and these are:
- my kids will definitely have to learn chinese (in addition to their paternal tongue, whatever that may be)
- if i live in a western country with poor math/science education, they are going to get additional private lessons. i insist on challenging them and getting them to learn advanced math before their official educational level
- definitely they will have to do some creative stuff—music, art... and also other extra-curricular activities, preferably sports as well
- they need to have asian values/work ethic—I'm still thinking on whether we should spend some time in Asia... something to decided upon in future
- definitely i want them to have the equivalent of the current Western infrastructure/opportunities... although the bastion of opportunity in the future may not be UK/US... but wherever that is, I want them to have that exposure/opportunity
- If i have more that one kid, I'd ideally like to have kids who are (one each): scientists, mathmos, phds (economics is okay, if not science/math) although I know those are not particularly well paying jobs.
The truth is, I've always been a bit (okay.. a lot) of a lazy girl. As a child, my Dad used to always urge me to watch documentaries with him, or financial news programmes, or ask me to sit with him while he fixed up the computer so he could teach me.
But I'd always been: yeah yeah, whatever. No, later. It's boring etc.
Years later, I'm kicking myself for not having listened to my Dad. I'm wishing my Dad has insisted more firmly, or sat me down and told me seriously how important learning was. The way, he had insisted I learn Mandarin, and his insistence that China will become a great power in 30-50 years' time.
My Dad, in his own more-talk-than-action, easily-stressed out, working class civil servant way, was a visionary. (And I have to tell him that again one day, even if it means I will have to endure him crowing about it for years to come) - That explains why I always say I'm fucking clairvoyant too.. it's in the genes! ;)
Jokes aside..
I love reading, but generally I'm the more dreamy, romantic, literary type and generally read fiction. It takes a lot of effort for me to read non-fiction. But this time, I'm really glad I did.
The book has got me thinking... I think a lot of it is true... and part of me always subconsciously knew a large part of what it says.. but it's great to have it all spelled out. And also.. funnily enough, a lot of it has to do with things that I knew in the past, when I was much younger, and have forgotten in recent years.
I've always been a fairly thoughtful/far-seeing/sensible/mature child. Not in my attitude towards attending classes or finishing homework admittedly, but in other ways. But as I grew older, I forgot all the things that I'd spent my young lonely years (the hours spent alone as an only child made me a deeply/overly introspective and comtemplative) thinking about and concluding on. But strangely enough, recently I've been increasingly reverting to my younger self/intrinsic nature (but that's for another post)
But for now, I'm inspired by the book, and have come up with several more policies and thoughts regarding the way I want to bring up my children in future, and these are:
- my kids will definitely have to learn chinese (in addition to their paternal tongue, whatever that may be)
- if i live in a western country with poor math/science education, they are going to get additional private lessons. i insist on challenging them and getting them to learn advanced math before their official educational level
- definitely they will have to do some creative stuff—music, art... and also other extra-curricular activities, preferably sports as well
- they need to have asian values/work ethic—I'm still thinking on whether we should spend some time in Asia... something to decided upon in future
- definitely i want them to have the equivalent of the current Western infrastructure/opportunities... although the bastion of opportunity in the future may not be UK/US... but wherever that is, I want them to have that exposure/opportunity
- If i have more that one kid, I'd ideally like to have kids who are (one each): scientists, mathmos, phds (economics is okay, if not science/math) although I know those are not particularly well paying jobs.
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