Quote:
Originally Posted by vixnix
At my elder kid's high school (which he starts next year) it's mandatory to take one modern language and I asked him if he would continue with Mandarin (because he's started that already, both in Sydney and now here) and he surprised me by saying he actually wants to switch, to Japanese. When I asked him why, he said because he loves Japan. And when I pressed him on that, he said it was because he loves Japanese food and Pokemon.
I mean WHAT. GIMME A FUCKING BREAK. I'm like...you don't like Japanese food, you like bento and ramen. That's like someone saying they like Chinese food because they like fried rice and dumplings. He just gave this goofy laugh and was like yeah but I still love Japan. I'm like YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO JAPAN ARGRGHHH 
But you know...it's time for me to step back and let him make those choices for himself.
Very.....hard. To keep my mouth shut. I think it will be the biggest challenge of having teenagers. Just....keeping my mouth shut. When I want to be like YOU FUCKING IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING
Because you know, that's what my parents said to me. And it really hindered my progress as an adult, I have to say. #breakingthecycle |
this is funny to me because "i love Japan" as well essentially based on slightly more nuanced superficialities, so i totally get where the kid is coming from (btw it's pretty crazy to me he's starting highschool. did the void swallow up a few years?)
but frankly, here's what i wish my parents did for me when i ignorantly made bad calls in my life. instead of mentally facepalming, letting him do what he's gonna do, or grilling him, why don't you just level with him and explain that since he already has a great head start on Mandarin, and seeing that it is probably the single best language to learn as a future investment, perhaps it really is the best available option to him (or if you wanna draw blood: "you might regret not having done so later on").