My child will not be deprived like I was 1

11th Nov 2008

Hello lovely people

Did you miss me?

The good news is that I have already received a large number of orders for the CD with articles from the blog. The bad news is that there are only 90 copies left and Christmas is a week closer. You snooze, you lose! If you would like to buy a special edition copy, please email me on elsabe@mypurpleblog.com.

Of course A Tapestry of Life will also make a good Christmas gift, and the second book in the series is due early in the new year.

When I was young I had to ride my bicycle to school. During the winters I had no gloves and when I got to school, my hands were frozen for a long time afterwards. Imagine writing an exam paper early in the morning with stiff fingers and a time constraint.

I first saw television when I was 17 years old. I first used a computer in my twenties, and did not own one until I was past thirty. I had to take care of my siblings, because my mother was emotionally absent and my father was physically absent – working his heart out to provide for his family.

I got my first car when I was nearly thirty and I had to buy it myself. The thought of buying me a car never even crossed the mind of my dad, even though I was the oldest child. His reasoning was that apart from the cost – I was already a liability because I went to university – I was soon going to find a husband who would be able to transport me or buy me a car.

Of course when I had my child, I vowed that he would never be deprived of these things like I was. I would ensure that he would have a car, a television and a computer. I would be involved in his upbringing and know everything about his friends and his activities.

I was so proud of myself when I achieved all these things for him. When he went on to study and did not like the course, I just wanted him to be happy and he left the course. When he could not find a job, I paid him an allowance. He used the allowance to drive to a designer coffee shop every day in his own car, buy the newspapers and sit there all morning searching for a job while enjoying his coffee and cigarette.

Eventually the penny dropped (for me) and I found him a job. When he did not like the job, I sympathised with him and told him about the lousy jobs I had to do in my life to put food on the table. I also sold the house so that he had nowhere to go to if he decided to resign from his job.

It so happened that I left the country at the same time, thereby removing his entire comfort zone. By then he was legally an adult and could not claim maintenance from anyone. His friends were working or studying, and he had to look after himself – he did not even have any siblings to rely on, being an only child.

Poor boy.

However, you should see him today. He is a competent, intelligent leader that people look up to and that employers are bidding for.

The other day one of his cousins complained about the hard work that his employer expected of him. My son told his cousin about the time when he stayed in a garden shed because it was all he could afford, and how it made him grateful for what he had. He also now encourages all his cousins to take their studies seriously and not make the “mistakes” he made.

To be continued.

If you would like to receive fascinating information on the holidays of various faiths and religions that will not be published on the blog, please subscribe to my email list on the blog. Please do this even if you already receive blog updates by email, because the email list is a separate list.

Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.

Love and Light
Elsabe