Before September ends, we attended a General PTA meeting for my eldest daughter Jessica. It was a whole day affair. The morning activity includes a Parenting seminar hosted by TSU Lab School’s Office of the Students Affairs Guidance and Placement Unit. The speaker of that seminar was Mr. Raffy Paredes, brother of APO group singer Jim Paredes from CEFAM – Center for Family Ministries – Ateneo De Manila University. The seminar focused primarily on teen’s behavioral changes. I am discussing parenting and even teaching it when I was still active in community organizations but this is different as I am sitting there as an audience and absorbing all the necessary inputs so I can fully understand my daughter’s behavior.
I am a mother of four kids and parenting is one of the hardest work any person can have in his entire life. It takes a lot of patience or I may say sacrifice, dedication, finance, time and of course love. Parenting means growing a person and guiding them to be a responsible member of society. This is the perfect goal for each parent but we all know that during this process, a lot of struggle may sets in. This struggles may lead to worst misunderstanding and most of the time, if not handled with proper attention will end up in a big mess.
Generation Gap. This is one of the culprits of misunderstanding. Parents are having a hard time coping up with their children especially when “technology” sets in. I have my share of unhappy memories as well.
I was born to a disciplinarian family. My dad is an army officer and so he marked a big “D” on my forehead. That big D stands for discipline. Every mistake will earn me a good spanking. I had so many tearful thoughts on that lol! But I never take it against my dad, I love him so much and thankful that he made me for what I am now.
But of course those experiences served as my guidelines. I need to understand that discipline is an important part of parenting. Though, I made some modifications. Being an activist plays an important factor too. Hub and I imposed a regular meeting in the family. We are discussing rules, tasks, targets and output and of course rewards. I don’t want to be a perfect parent but I dream to be the best mom for my kids.
To cope up with my kids, I see to it that I set my foot in the computer world first before they do. I was the one who taught them their first lessons in windows. This will narrow the generation gap as they know that you know what they know.
But this is not enough. There goes the bad moods and peculiar behaviors. Have you experience talking with your teens, and they would just turn to you with puzzled look?
In front of the dining table, we are sharing some funny incidents in a days work and I turned to my daughter. I asked her something about her project and she said “ha?” I repeated the word 3 times and she replied with “ha?” 3 times too. I was irritated because she was just in front of me so I asked her “what’s the matter with you? Have you cleaned your ears lately?” and she replied again with “hah? OMG! You’re possessed or maybe your spirit is traveling to Norway.
Attending this seminar cleared my mind. The speaker said that there is a scientific explanation about these behaviors. He shared to us some facts about it. According to him, study shows that during puberty period, the development of the brain is much slower as the physical aspects are fast developing. These explain why my smart daughter suddenly becomes forgetful and have hearing problems 🙂 But the speaker said we have to be patient because this will just pass.
The seminar lasted for almost 4 hours but it’s worth the time.
The afternoon activity was a PTA officer election and releasing of grades. I am holding my breath before I peep in my daughter’s card. Well, I smiled and hug her because she has good grades and included in top 8 students. Congratulations Baby! Keep it up 🙂
Pinay Key Point 
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