Outsource parenting

Over breakfast this morning, I over heard another table conversation where 2 mothers were commenting about difficulty in looking for P1 tuition center.  I cannot help but ask myself, "Is outsource of parenting in trend now?"   I used to grow up in the environment where kids are responsible for their school work and results.  In the current context, parents are reaching out to professionals for assistance in teaching their kids.  As more parents are busy pursuing their careers, I encountered far too many kids who are lack of parenting love and joined the "Dark side".   I do not agree with parent excuse of busy schedules and assume that kids today will still grow up like kids in the old days.  I must thank my wife for reminding me to spend time with the kids when I was travelling 80% of my time in regional job.  Today, my kids are very attached to me and I am very obligated to spend more time with them.

I have strong belief that kids can be shaped in the first 6 years of their life.  The rest of the time are fine tuning till teenage.  Steal a quote from my wife "Parents write the first 16 chapters of their kid's life and the kids will need to continue to write their chapters in life"  These 16 chapters include family values, the morale value, do and don'ts in life, sibling conflict handling etc.  My grandmother used to tell me that everyone is pure in the infant stage of our life.  The parents play a big role to guide the kids.  With the busy schedule of parents, I am not sure how many parents try to listen to their kids over dinner.

With most corporate promoting work life balance, I wish more parents cherished their time with their kids and spend more time dinning with their kids.  Just a quick observation, watching TV with kids during prime time should not be considered as spending time with kids.

3 things that make me smile today:
1) Jerry approached my wife and opened her palm.  He kissed on the palm and asked her to close palm.  He said to her that she may open her hand and tap on her cheek if she missed him. So sweet!
2) Nicole called me to chat about her school activities like her gossip about teacher romancing in school
3) Daryl is reading better in Mandarin and have more confident in the coming Chinese Oral tomorrow.