to all parents ....
----- Forwarded by Michael Hollmann/Users/GE/GE_Holdings on 09/24/2004
11:39 AM -----
Annette Yambao
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
09/24/2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
11:19 AM [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
Michael
Hollmann/Users/GE/[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL
PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], Gil
Salvatierra/Users/GE/[EMAIL PROTECTED],
"Geraldine DeGuzman"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Teddy & Geraldine"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
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Subject: Fwd: Fw: "Brat-manship"
----- Forwarded by Annette Yambao/Users/GE/GE_Holdings on 24-09-2004 11:20
AM -----
Cristelyn
Rebolledo-Cesista To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] cc:
tmail.com> Subject: Fwd: Fw: "Brat-manship"
23-09-2004 11:49
PM
very nice article for loving parents out there.... long, but it's worth the
read. =)
How brats are created
Who says only valuable jewelries can become
heirlooms?
My daughter showed me a copy of a letter written by
her friend's Dad on her
13th birthday. A few months after he wrote it, he
died of a heart attack.
Today, this letter is regarded as a family heirloom,
shared not just with
the immediate members of the family, but shown
proudly to relatives and
friends alike.
I felt the message in this beautiful letter should
be shared with as many
people as possible. So I asked my daughter if her
friend -- the letter's
addressee -- would allow me to reprint it in
BusinessWorld. She said there
shouldn't be a problem, except that a note should
probably precede the
letter asking the readers to share this with their
young married children.
Hah!, a not-so-subtle inference that BusinessWorld
readers are not exactly
"young parents" anymore.
So, dear readers, do share this letter with your
young married children.
They will certainly find this letter -- as I did --
a very insightful
treatise on how brats are created.
"Daughter Dearest
"Happy 13th Birthday!
"When you came to this world 13 years ago, you
brought your Mom and I a lot
of joy! We've always wanted a daughter and God in
His wisdom gifted us with
you.
"This is not to cast any aspersions at your four
older brothers; they are
also a great blessing and we love them very much,
but boys are boys, and I
look forward to the day when I am old and gray to
have you by my side. I
can't see this happening with your brothers; you
know what I mean, as we
have talked about this at the dining-room table many
a time.
"You have also heard me say that we are gifted with
a lot of material
wealth. That's something we should be very grateful
to the Lord about, but
we should be aware that this has been loaned to us,
as you too are loaned to
us by God and that we will be asked to give a full
accounting when our day
of reckoning comes.
"The reason for this letter is to warn you about one
big, big danger you and
your brothers may face in the next few years. I have
seen it happen in other
families. I don't want to see it happen here.
"I am referring to having you guys grow up as brats!
"'Brat-manship' is the process one has to go through
to become a brat!
"Unfortunately, it is an ailment imposed by parents!
They are the creators
of the brats!
"In their desire to try to save their children from
the difficulties they
have been through, they do whatever possible to
shield them from this.
Little do they realize, that it is precisely these
difficulties that have
made them successful. Their love for their children
may make them
overprotective. They may even prevent them from
taking public
transportation. They come up with all sorts of
rationalizations, going by
public transportation is not safe, the buses are too
crowded, the fumes on
the road are bad for ones health, and so on!
"They mean well, but in the process, they deprive
their children of what it
really means to live in a city like Manila which is
comprised of two strata
of society -- the 'haves' and the 'have-nots!' And
sad to say some of 'the
haves' live in their little world. Unaware of that
sampaguita vendor,
drenched in the rain, so that her siblings may get a
least one meal that
day.
"The other day, I was with an elderly wise
gentleman, we are at the Polo
Club waiting for his car. There was a girl, about
your age. She, too, was
waiting for her car. When her vehicle got there, she
jumped into the front
seat, and as she did, tossed her beautiful pair of
riding boots into the
back seat. She then asked the driver if her Mom was
home. 'Wala po!
Nagma-mah jong (She's not home. She's playing mah
jong),' came the reply!
The car drove off.
"My friend turned to me and said, 'There is an
example of the
underprivileged rich.' Then he followed with, 'They
have everything and they
have nothing.'
"This incident, short as it was, left me with a deep
impression. I guess
this is why I am writing this letter.
"Your Mom and I have tried to raise you kids to
realize that our country is
made up of the very rich and those who may not even
have enough to have one
decent meal a day.
I hope you never lose sight of this. This is why we
have taken it upon
ourselves to adopt a squatter family during
Christmas and share with them
some of some things to make their Christmas more
meaningful. In the process,
we hope that you and your brothers will appreciate
the conditions we live
in. In the process, I hope that you always have
compassion for these lesser
fortunate. So that next time you see that sampaguita
vendor knocking at our
car window drenched in rain you do not get annoyed,
but instead pull out
your wallet and share with her in a small way your
allowance.
"You will notice your brothers take public
transportation to go to UP. It's
not that we can't afford another car; we can't
afford for them to grow up
thinking that its part of their 'birth right' to be
in the ruling class.
"This is why we insisted that you do your bed in the
morning, and to pick up
your own toys and cloths, rather than have a yaya
trailing you.
"And I could go on and on. As you are apt to say,
'You catch my drift!'
"When you feel you are not getting enough money in
your allowance, or get
new shoes like your friends always had or the latest
fad of Guess jeans,
take this letter out and reread what I have written.
"We love you far too much to create a brat!
"Your Loving Father"
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