As I said in the previous post, I would want to lead a happy and healthy life with my other half along with kids. Money is not that important. Kids just have to be healthy, and all these are sufficient.

But in reality, I don’t think humans are ever satisfied. We have this unquenchable desire for better stuff/better quality/better standard of living/better everything.

Take someone that I know for example, all she prays for during her daughter’s pregnancy is for the baby to be healthy.

Once the healthy baby is born, she would pray that the baby is smart.

Why isn’t the baby learning to talk yet? Why the baby don’t know how to walk yet? She’s already 15 months old!

Then there would be a mad rush to get the baby registered into the best toddler’s school/ the best kindergardent/ the best primary school.

Darn. No place. How? Donate $$! Volunteer as the gardener of the school/traffic warden/whatever.

Oh. She finally got in. *tears of joy*

Oh dear. She’s just scoring 86% for her Science. A is not enough. I must get her a tutor immediately. So that she can get 91% and above to get her A*.

Oh no.. She’s just scoring 68% for her Chinese even when she’s getting tuition. I know. I must get her another tutor! If 1 tuition is not working, 2 tuition classes of the same subject should be enough. No? Then I’ll get 3! 4!

Report book is back. Wah. 2nd in class! *tears of joy (again)* The additional tuition lessons are paying off!

Off the rat race begins. You would think that the rat race only exist in the working population. Nah. It exists in the schooling population too.

Many believe that we live in an unforgiving society. Thus the mad rush to get into the best schools, get the best results, go to the best universities. Tuition for the weak subjects. Not allowed to go out during school days ’cause there’s more homework and assignments to be done, tests to study for.

I mean, come on man. What difference does half a day off make? What’s a lunch + a few hours off? They won’t kill right? The homework + assignments + projects + tests are never ending. With the additional tuition classes, the poor child is buried under work and more work.

And all these come from the same person who just simply wished for her baby to be healthy.

No doubt they set off with good intentions in mind, but they often get caught up in everything and things just simply get out of hand.

I’m not blogging with the aim of attacking anyone (yes, all these are true events that I witnessed in my life.).

I’m just blogging so that I will remember that, at the age of 20, this is what I see: miserable children who are so stressed.

Stressed by themselves. Stressed that they can’t live up to expectations. Stressed ’cause there’s no other avenue of relaxation but to bury themselves in work and more work.

I’m blogging so that when it’s my turn to become a mother, I can remind myself that my heart once went out for those who felt so stressed ’cause I was under the same pressure to perform.

I’m blogging so as to keep myself grounded: that the simplest things can bring the most happiness. I just want my kids to be happy in the future.

I’m blogging ’cause I don’t want my kids to look back at their childhood and teenhood and shudder with fear.

I’m blogging this post ’cause there’s more to life than pure academics.

I’m blogging ’cause I want myself to be content.