One of the things that comes with being such a tiny human is having everything done for you. As little kids, we were entitled to having all the time to ourselves and living a stress-free life. It was such a bliss, sitting pretty like royalty at home and having other people do things for you. My childhood was nothing less than that. I have a lot of older siblings who were expected to do chores and other activities at home while I play around or did whatever I wanted to do with my time. Nevertheless, as I kept growing, my Mom taught me to start doing things for myself,allowing to take on little responsibilities at home.
Previously during my early school years, I always came back with one or two homeworks but I never worry about them because I knew my siblings will take care of it or sometimes my mom. All I had to do is wake up the next morning and prepare for school knowing that my homework is ready. However, my mom started letting me do my homeworks with her guidance. I would always struggle with holding the pencil firm in place as I wrote, sometimes I cry when I get tired and bored but she would always tell me,"you have to start doing your homeworks by yourself ,it's your responsibility now"
She had me know that she's not going to keep letting my siblings take care of my responsibilities while I run off to play. I was getting used to doing my own things and most times my mom will intentionally chose not remind me to do my homework. I end up getting some strokes from my teacher for it, after school I'll run home and tell my mom that I was flogged for skipping my homework. She would offer some comfort but not without reminding me that the punishment I got was because of failing to take my responsibility seriously and just like that, the lesson was drawn home.
I never miss to do my homework first thing when I come back from school because I already know the consequence if I don't do it. It wasn't just homeworks, each time my mom starts washing her clothes, she will make me wash my socks by myself. My little hands will struggle to get them clean enough for approval by mom because she'll make sure I wash them clean even if it meant doing it for hours. As time goes on, I became both responsible and independent. I didn't have to wait for anyone to wash my dresses or clean up my shoes or even keep my things in the correct order.
Learning from those experiences during childhood really played a vital role in shaping my life as an adult. It is agreeable that adulthood is a stage where you are accountable for everything that goes on in your life. It's either you take on your responsibilities or you don't. Nobody is going to wake up and remind you to go to work or even do your work for you. Everyone already has enough of life's trouble, so having that knowledge from childhood that at a point in life it is going to be me versus the world, helps me to embrace my responsibilities and take them seriously.
Learning self-reliance and independence as a child has also helped me now to make my own decisions and take my own steps with confidence. I won't always have my mom around reminding me to do anything or even making my decisions for me. Although I can always seek the guidance of older people while making decisions, but however, in the end when it comes to personal choices, I have the final say.
Taking up responsibilities has its own setbacks, and challenges just like struggling to hold my pencil firm when I write in my younger years. I figured out that crying over it then wouldn't solve the problem, so I found out others ways to do my homeworks without struggling with the pencil. The same goes for adulthood, I learned to anticipate challenges and even when faced with challenges and setbacks, I find ways to handle my tasks better without giving up on the first trial.
The little things we learn from childhood, though Insignificant then, can go a long way in bettering our lives as adults. Teaching us lessons that will come in handy through the journey of adulthood.
This is in response to the monthly prompt initiative organized by Inleo. Click here to know more about the prompts for April