At 12 am, as I slept in bed getting a sound sleep suddenly there is a knock on the door. It is the neighbor complaining about someone throwing a ball on the wall shared between the two houses. It is my son playing with the ball by hitting it on the wall at 12 am in the night. I find it difficult to believe how can someone not realize the importance of the rules around a community, even if you are a 16 year old. Can it be that difficult to understand the rules or is it my failure as a father to not have built a sense of responsibility towards the norms of the society in my kid.
I reflect back to my teenage days. I could recollect days when I was 12 years old and the neighbor living below us complaining about my using roller skates in the house and the noise irritating the neighbor living below us. My father would politely tell me to skate outside in the gallery instead of skating inside the house. Then, why am I being so critical about my son’s playful error. He was neither trying to intentionally brake a rule nor trying to irritate anyone deliberately. So, is it possible that I am being too critical of the issue and blaming myself for an unintentional error caused by him. Am I questioning my skills of upbringing the child by being too critical on myself.
As I recollect, I am reminded of his innocent smile when he was a baby. His goggly eyes when I got late to pick him up from school after his field trip. I remember his ability to make new friends when we moved his school and his complaints with not moving to a new place, but still managing to take the challenge and coming out shining with successfully settling himself in a new place. His caring attitude towards his siblings. His carefree, but cautious attitude when he is with his friends. It seems I have brought up a child who is developing into a fine man. I think I might have succeeded in my task obviously with the help of my wife 😅.