From all accounts by my folks and various other relatives, I was quite a handful when I was a kid. Stories of me scheming to lower cousins down to the ground floor from the second storey using a woven basket and bedsheets make me laugh along with memories of screaming at the top of my lungs as I sat on some uncle’s shoulder. My aunt is still trying to find a picture of me hanging upside down whilst on a ferry with my grandma looking on with a frown and holding on to the other cousins so they would emulate my antics. I guess my grandma didn’t name me “dai guai tau” or chief devil for no reason.
Besides being prone to mischief, I had a built in rebellious gene that was super active in my teens. It kicked in the moment I was told to do something by any person of authority. I used to think I was smart enough to handle most things by myself and was ready to take the whole world on with no paper qualifications.
That stubbornness and arrogance subsided through the years and in karmic fashion has now come back to haunt me in the form of a god-brother 11 years younger.
I now understand what was going through my mom’s mind when she complained that I treated our home like a hotel or whenever I didn’t help with the housework. I get the slow burn of irritation they probably felt when things get used up without a word or without being replaced. I feel the frustration my folks must have felt daily when I refused to listen to any of their advice and insisted on doing things my way.
The realisation that no matter what I say or do, my god-brother would do things his way has made me learn patience and find other ways to get my point across. I now use the temper card after a multitude of incidents occur so it gets more mileage and I resort to using the mom and dad card when I really need to get through or mediate a stand-off. This family sure is one full of strong and stubborn personalities.
It’s funny how much perspective and affinity we gain only after having charges of our own.
So this is to say thank you mom and dad for all that you put up with. Now I know.
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