Subject Matter: Parenting

“He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5)

The place was in chaos as expected. It was one of those commencement exercises that came to an end. And as expected graduates, parents, teachers and friends alike were bumping, greeting, posing, shouting, laughing… making the entire social hall a totally chaotic place on earth.

“Ma’am, the valedictorian is my son.” a proud father told me, as we walked towards the exit door.

“Well, congratulations then“… was all I said and quickly joined my colleagues leaving the graduation venue.

“I want you to take good care of him!” pointing at the young hand-cupped blond teenager, Horacio Cain told the big black convict as they were ushered to the prison cell.

“And why would I do that?” the black guy asked him.

“Because…” Horacio replied, “he is my son!”

[It was a scene in one of the episodes in CSI:Miami]

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All fathers [and mothers] are always proud of their children, even the not-so-good ones.  I cannot think of anything to compare a parent’s love to one’s child.  But if there is one thing I know… that the child learns love from home first and foremost.

A child, before he enters our classroom had already learned values that any exceptional teacher can’t altered. Being a teacher, we can teach him lessons in life but we cannot un-teach him the lessons that he already learned in life. We can provide him with choices but we can’t choose for him. And we can almost always influence his way of life but we cannot lead his life for him.

Being a teacher… we are also considered as parents to our students. And being so, we have the responsibilities similar to their biological parents. But even so, we cannot replace them even if there are times that our students prefer us from their own parents.

It is not just the mystery of life… it is life.