To punish or not to punish

It is not easy to become parents. The Malays has this proverb - lebih baik bela lembu sekandang dari menjaga anak seorang ( or dua orang or tiga orang or.., or...). That is because to look after cows is so easy. Morning let go of the cows, let them cari makan sendiri, merayau ikut suka hati,eat people's plant, cross the road and sometimes landed under the stemroll. Come evening the owner will look for them and bring them back and tie them under coconut trees or at tiang rumah.

But we can't do that to our children. We have to feed them, clothes them ,teach them what's right and what's wrong, teach them how to pray, to read and recite Quran,train them to fast during fasting month,send them to school,give them love and the list goes on until doomsday.Failing to do all that, we might create monsters or devils or..or....Sheesh! No wonder people would rather bela lembu sekandang.

To punish or not to punish---if your children meraung-raung in the supermarket because they want toys and you ignore them. Or if you take them to the choc dept they want all the chocs on the shelves and already stuff some of them in their pockets! Or you take them to eat fast food , they want everything on the menu. On top of that they will spill the drinks, quarrel with the siblings and start throwing chicken drumstick at each other.

You must wash their clothes, like three pairs each during school days ( school uni,baju main and pyjamas which will be soiled beyond recognition ).Tell them 10 times to wash their hands before eating or go take your bath or hang your towel properly or...or....

And sometimes they dare to teach you something when you scold them. Like don't play with cats , you'll get rashes. They will say its okay mama ,let me show you how to play with cat. Like this...stroke his head until it lentok then hold its front legs with one hand and its hind legs with the other hand, then you place the cat on your head stomach down and then shift it to your left cheek then to the right cheek and to your chin.And shove the cat to you so you can try . Would you?.

Or they teach you how to play with the security blanket.Hold the very corner of the kepam blanket rub it on your nose while smelling the 'sweetness' of the since they were born blanket.Would you? Punish or not to punish them.

But on the other hand we can tell them not to play the fool with mothers because mothers will recognize their children even though they are a mile away or by the glimpse of their ears!.

Many of us still think that our children are still small even though they are already 40 years old.Mothers still scold their children even though they are lawyers, or magistrates or pemain music!.