By no means am I an expert in this topic because I have
never studied this nor do I have a child of my own. I’m merely talking about my
observations here in China.
To start off, Chinese babies are so lucky! They are truly
loved, appreciated and can get anything they want because typically they’re the
only child. Now at my school, this isn’t always the case but I’ve noticed the
same amount of love and attention as I have with only child families.
On the flip side, Chinese babies are spoiled beyond belief
and can barely do things on their own. I have parents (or grandparents even)
that come into class with their kids, unzip their jacket, and get their books
out of their bags for their children – their children can be anywhere from 3 to
11 years old and yet they still do this. There is no sense of independence for
these kids.
Now, don’t get me started on how some children take this to
the extreme by crying, yelling, and screaming. They cannot go through class
without their mom there or saying how they miss their mom the whole time. I
have heard a story about a mom who brings an extra pair of shoes when she drops
her child off. This is to place in the crack of the door so that way her son
thinks that she is right there, and she can go shopping in the mall during
class. Don’t ask me what happens when he has to go to the bathroom and
discovers just the shoe!
When it comes to crying though, there would never be a time where
you see a parent who lets their kid just cry it out. The parent/grandparent
will always come running and fix the problem whatever way they can. I guess I
should say thanks for this one so I don’t experience as much crying – though I do
experience a decent bit of it each week.
This dependence doesn’t only exist for the people who take
care of them, it exists for water too. For some reason, they love drinking
water and are constantly drinking it – warm water that is. In a 50-minutes
class, I am bound to have at least 1 student who is dying for water and won’t participate until he gets his one sip of
water.
As for the parent relationship between each other, from what I know so far, dates do not happen after people get married and have a kid. They aren't even considered. I've asked coworkers in this situation and they said 'Why should we have to go on a date?' The focus has now shifted from being husband and wife to being mother and father. They will do whatever they have to in order to have their child have a happy and successful life, and that's all that matters!
In the end, this just all creates the close family bonds
that most Chinese families have. Once the children grow up, they are typically
so grateful for their mom and dad, but more so their grandparents because those
are the people that ended up raising them.
That’s where my point of my blog lies today – being thankful
for parents and family. I could not be here in my life if it wasn’t for my
family, specifically my parents. They made such a sacrifice to raise me and
allow me to find myself by traveling the world. I can never say thank you
enough for that. I mean I’ve been to over ten countries, have a bachelor’s
degree and a full time job, and can live on my own halfway across the world. How
many people can say that?
Although life may not end up how you originally foresaw it
to, you have no reason to not be thankful for the life you have been given to
you and the people who have impacted you in various ways throughout it all.
So thanks goes to all those people out there who have impacted me in some way.
