"Practice random acts of silliness and senseless acts of fancy"
* **Chee Seng* <http://cheeseng.wordpress.com/author/cheez74/>* * *Silliness.* *.* *That's something to be frowned upon, isn't it?* *.**Then how come children love it so much?**.* *I remember my (very much) younger days when my dad would display flashes of silliness. Doing a little dance on the way to his room, stuff like that. That would amuse me no end. And it also made him seem more human and less than just an authority figure.**.* *I seem to have caught his bug now that I've become a father myself. Not only that, I've got a full-fledged infection! I can't go for one day without being silly with my daughter at least once. We get into mock arguments, silly conversations, one-liners, weird actions… It irritates my wife no end, but my daughter and I enjoy it. So I guess there's no relief for my wife just yet! (Actually my wife is just as silly with our girl, only at different times!)**.* *Why shouldn't we be silly with our kids? It makes our kids feel comfortable around us, closes the generation gap, builds up our relationships. Most of all, silliness is fun! Of course, I'm not saying that mum and dad needs to be a full-time clown. Even our kids won't appreciate that! They need an authority figure they can respect. But too much authority and they will feel stifled.**.* *I remember that as time went by, there were less incidences of silliness from my dad. In my mind, the image of my dad as a "normal" human being retreated, and was replaced by a "Father Figure". I felt more distant from him as time went by.* *.**It's a fine balancing act that we parents have to do. But still, I believe silliness is just as important as discipline in bringing up our children. The way I felt about my dad is still fresh in my mind. And I wouldn't want my daughter to feel disconnected from me, just as I felt with my own dad those days.**.* *So I pledge to continue to (to paraphrase a popular philosophy): "Practice random acts of silliness and senseless acts of fancy."* *.* *To my wife: I'm sorry, you'll have to put up with us for another few years. At least.* *.* *Or you could join us!* *.* *Blessings to you…* *Chee Seng* ** * cnu.pne * --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/thatha_patty?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
