Happy Mother’s Day! Growing up, there are some things my mom would say all the time. These were the basic rules we were expected to know and had to follow. I can still hear it in my head along with her tone of voice.
8. Don’t waste food. Finish everything on your plate. Every grain of rice you leave is a pimple you’ll get on your face. I have learned to make sure my meat to rice proportions are balanced. Each bite of meat needs to have the appropriate amount of rice with it. Having more meat than rice is fine (preferred), but I never want to be left with only rice in my bowl with no more meat left on the table.
7. 做完功課才可以玩｡ You can only play after you finish your homework – but wait, there’s a part two: you can play with the Game Boy for 30 minutes only after you practice piano for 30 minutes. The more you practice, the longer you get to play. Is there enough time in the day for that?
6. If you didn’t do anything wrong, don’t apologize. If someone’s car hits you, would you get off the car and apologize immediately? No! The other person will have you take all the blame if you apologize. You figure out who had the right of way first before making a conclusion.
5. What’s the magic word? (Thank you.)
4. Just because someone is doing something wrong, it doesn’t mean you are allowed to do it. How come other people can do it? is a question I asked all the time. If you see someone stealing and they don’t get caught, does that mean you can steal too? No! If it is something you should not be doing, then you should not be doing it regardless of whether other people are doing it or not.
3. 入屋,叫人｡ When you enter someone’s house, greet them.
2. 哭也沒用｡ There’s no use crying. Crying won’t solve the problem.
1. 你唔識就學到識｡ If you don’t know how to do it, keep learning until you know how to do it.