I understand that all parents love their children and would do almost anything to let their children have that extra comfort. My question is, for how long?

There is a line drawn between over-protective and abusive.

I believe in training the child to be responsible for their own things and being independent the moment the child shows signs that he or she is able to handle the responsibilities.

My boys has been fully trained to bathe themselves, brush teeth for themselves, dress themselves when they were as young as three. Now, they wash their own plates and bowls. I continue to believe that it is crucial for the child to learn to be independent when they are ready.

For the whole of last year, I see this family EVERY DAY. An approximately 70 year old granny, a mother who looks like in her late 30s and a daughter whose ‘sides’ were bigger than mine and was slightly shorter than me, i.e. 158cm.

PhotobucketOver hearing their conversation many times and looking at her size, I suspected that she was a Primary 6 student.

Every morning her granny would carry her school bag and walk many steps ahead of the mother and daughter, who would usually be lagging behind holding hands, chit-chatting and laughing away.

Her granny’s hunch was pretty bad already even without any weight on her back.

How could the daughter and the grand-daughter add such unnecessary pressure on her spine?!

Whenever I see them, I would always be struggling within myself and holding myself back from asking, “You are such a big girl already, why are you not carrying your own bag and taking responsibilityof your own things?”

What puzzled me even more was the fact that she loves her granny! I have seen her kissed her granny on different occasions at the school gate before the old lady hand the heavy school bag over to her grand-daughter.Photobucket

If you love your granny so much, why are you allowing her old body to go through this torture?

Even if your granny insists on carrying your school bag, you should be sensible enough to reject the offer and carry your own bag!

Well, its been two days since school reopened and I have yet to see the trio. If my suspicion was correct, she WAS a Primary 6 pupil and had moved on to Secondary School already, then that explains why I do not see her anymore.

The only time I carried my child’s school bag was when I need him to run faster to beat the traffic lights. Only then will I carry his school bag, dash across the traffic junction while holding his hands and return the heavy school bag to him immediately, when we reach the other end of the road. Other than that, NO way will I carry his bag for him!