Growing up in a big family was not always easy. My father favoured sons over daughters, leaving my sisters and I to resolve things on our own. Financial constraints and the lack of a conducive home environment meant formal education was a challenge I could not fully complete. Adulthood brought change. I found my footing, met my partner through mutual connections, and together we built a home and family of our own. When it came to our children, I never pushed for top grades. What mattered more was that they enjoyed the learning journey and grew as individuals along the way.
I grew up in a big family with complex relationship ties between family members. My father was strict and favoured sons over daughters. Hence, my sisters and I were quite neglected in the household and had to resolve any problems/issues ourselves when we were met with them. For instance, I did not manage to complete high formal education partly due to financial security and also the difficulty of having a conducive environment for learning at home.
However, things started to change for the better once I reach adulthood. I had more independent opinion and can venture to do my own things. True enough, I met my partner organically through mutual connections and a shared social network group. Soon after, we started dating, and had plans to build a family together. By buying a house and also having kids. After birthing them and a few years later, we were able to send them up for formal education in nursery/kindergarten school.
When they were in primary school, I did not demand them to mandatory excel in academics. I was always a more ‘can pass can already’ type of parent. I wanted them to enjoy the learning journey and also acquire good knowledge in the process.