| Relationships:
Mother-son Honesty means not lying "I will be late, mum as I have to attend a remedial class. Please pick me up at 2.45 pm" "I will be late, mum as I have to have to pick up a dictionary from the office. Please pick me up at 2.45 pm." Which version was the correct one? There was a remedial class but the 11-year old Xiang would not be attending as his school bag was not in the class-room said his classmate who had accompanied Xiang's Dad to look for him. His classmate saw him leaving the school with a classmate. His call to mum was belated as Dad had gone to the school at 1.15 p.m. Obviously Xiang had gone to the nearby shopping mall with his classmate. At 2.30 p.m, mum went to the school and saw Xiang with his friend walking back to school. He could have asked permission to go to the mall, but I guess he wanted to be "independent". Or was it the influence of his classmate who had plenty of freedom? Was Xiang dishonest? From my view, he was not sorry when he received scolding from mum. How many times before was he really attending remedial classes, nobody knows. He could have told the parents that he would be going to the mall with his classmate and most likely, he would get the permission to do so. But it would be difficult to imagine what he wanted. The freedom of choice to go out with his friend, like others? Banning him from going out at 5.30 p.m to see his friends at the playground for the next 2 weeks. 2 light strokes of the cane on his back were more symbolic than painful, as mum disliked corporal punishment. Mum subscribed to logic and logic did not seem to work in bringing up the brood. Can an 11-year old grasp the concept of honesty and integrity? Such a boring subject. If not for a sudden check by Dad, the parents would not have been any wiser as remedial classes are conducted after school nowadays. Would Xiang know about honesty now? Did he lie then? When Dad asked him one week later, he said he did not tell mum about attending the remedial class. He said that he would be collecting a Chinese a dictionary from the school office as this dictionary was part of a newsletter subcription and had asked mum to come at 2.45 p.m to pick him up. Was he covering up? Is it worth pursuing the matter? Parents usually don't follow up after scoldings and if they do, they may discover differing versions. It is indeed a long tedious path of parenthood to bring up children. It will not be surprising that some couples prefer to be childless by choice. Family Relationships is sponsored by http://www.asiahomes.com Send mail to david@asiahomes.com with questions or comments about
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