91. I, Wobot
Like a computer,
Every hour, divine programs
Are downloaded from the
Website in the Sky.
But it is when their elders,
Mess about with their codes,
That children become confused,
And they hang, refusing to reboot;
Ctrl, Alt, Del!
Ctrl, Alt, Del!
.....................
My Son. This coming Monday, Mikhail is going to the U.S. of A. He will be going with his mother Gina and his Uncle Herman to visit his family on the other side of the world. He will be gone for more than 2 weeks. That is a very long time for me to not have his company.
 |
| Mika is gonna make a side visit to 'the happiest place on earth'. But for parents, isn't wherever their children are, the happiest place on earth already? |
My Friend's Son. My colleague Alexander was telling me that his son Eby has also become closer to him. Eby is only 4 years old but he is starting to hang out more with his father, now even refusing to be bathed by his mother. Alex asked, "Why Eby don't want to bath with Mummy?" to which the precocious kid replied, "Eby shy. Mummy girl, Eby boy." He he he. Advance kid.
 |
| Err... you bought this game for your 4-year old son? |
R-Rated. A month ago, Alex showed me the Grand Theft Auto computer game that he bought online. He said he bought it 'for Eby'. I have played GTA myself a long time ago, and knew it was an R-Rated game with violence, street crimes, gangsters, sex, 'whores' and 'the hood'. So I said, "Err, don't you think the game is a little too mature for Eby?" But Alex had a plan - "Yeah, but I will let him only play the car-driving bit (where your character will be driving a car, van, truck or any vehicle he can steal from some poor sucker in the city streets). He loves car-racing."
But his plans had to be adjusted. For yesterday he shared with me what happened when his boy played the game. "Eby was driving the car when he crashed into a bunch of people on the sidewalk. He actually cried, bro! Eby kill people - he said."
We are sometimes so immunized by the depiction of violence, both real and acted, on TV, the cinema and the internet that we forget just what subtle spirits children actually are. They can have such beautiful and nuanced emotion, untainted by life's more hard experiences and lessons. "So what did you do?" I asked further.
"Well, now I drive the car whenever in the city and take it out to the countryside where there are not so many people about. Then I give Eby the wheels." replied my friend.
He he he.
Children and Education. Sometimes I think life can be hard for children. And we parents haven't really much training to educate them. Oh come on, let's admit it. We have had zero training. So while we ourselves are works-in-progress and undergoing on-the-job training ourselves, we are saddled with another small human being to teach and raise up into a decent man or woman. Good luck with that!
92. I, Wobot II
Children are not beta-versions of you
To be experimented with.
....................
But as I have mentioned before, I think our very own life education is only complete when we have to love and care for children, whether it is our very own, our nephews and nieces or even our pupils in the class room. And part of the lesson learned is that we cannot do it alone. For a child is such a precious gift, whose sensitive soul can be moulded (or damaged), that I always found it a relief to have an avenue to ask for help. And that as a man and a father, I have much to fix of myself. So I ask the One God, the Most Helpful Fixer of problems and the Origin of all good lessons, to abide by my son in His Divine Presence, with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), his Companions and Saints, and the countless angelic heralds of God. I have asked this even before Mika breathed his first. And I pray the support shall continue until he breathed his last and forever more.
93. Muhammad Mikhail
May he be a servant of God,
A lover of the Prophet,
A friend of the Angels,
A mureed of the Masters,
A caretaker of the Traditions,
And spring of charity
To all who may come to him in need.
Somewhere far, far down the line,
Perhaps he can also call himself
A son of mine.
That is my prayer for my son.
...................
May God abide by the children that is enriching your own life, sunshine.
wa min Allah at-taufiq.
Hate has no place in Islam
Love will show the Way
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