Time and Children 時間與孩子

Our children want to talk to us and come to us for advice about relationships with friends. Ah, the joys of home schooling 家庭學校的喜樂! Lots of people wish they would be a source of advice and influence for their children. The problem for most parents is time 父母沒有時間陪孩子. Their time with their children is miniscule compared to the time their children are at school with their classmates exactly the same age. I see so many people who are busy, busy building careers which means that there is only a couple minutes of “quality time” at best each day with children 幾分鐘所謂的‘品質時間’不夠. Gradually the only social influence that matters is from peers exactly the same age (and tv, internet, etc.). Those older and younger are invisible.

Is Chinese culture different? On the one hand, grandparents have a bigger impact on children’s lives since they spend time with them. Also, family businesses 家庭企業 lend themselves to the whole family working together. On the other hand, as a developing economy, much time is spent on improving lives economically.

The photo, which has nothing to do with this rant, is of my wife after she bought this silk shawl, that our daughter is wearing, from these merchants who come to her workplace. They sell name brand clothing 名牌衣服,鞋子,絲襪,帽子, 等 for a really cheap price, often the equivalent of US $1. The 2nd photo is of my daughter’s toes as she was sleeping.