Monday 21 January 2008

Fun or not?

The kids often ask me "Which is more fun? School or work?"

I always reply, "Of course school is fun. You meet friends. You don't have to worry about money. Life is so carefree... When you get to the university, you don't have to wear school uniform anymore and you attend lectures whenever you feel like..."

They roll their eyes. Yah right. When Mummy says it is fun, it always means otherwise. Like when we ask "Can we go to the movies?" and she says, "See how...", that means "Not going!"

They think that going to work, being able to earn lots of money and get to wear nice clothes is the best thing ever. Of course they haven't met nasty bosses, back-stabbing colleagues and impossible deadlines.

To be fair, I also tell them that "Work is fun if you're doing something you enjoy. Like being a florist if you like flowers, or an artist if you like drawing, or a vet if you like animals..."

Lame examples I know, that why SK's ambition as a little kid was "...to be a fisherman when I grow up because I like fishes!" Being an encouraging mom, I'd say, "Well, you can be a fisherman but we'll see... when you're older, you may change your mind."

"Can I make a lot of money as a fisherman?", he asked innocently.

"Well, it depends. If your idea of a fisherman is to stand by the river with a rod, you may catch nothing all day and you'll have nothing to sell."

"I don't want to be a fisherman anymore! I wish I can earn lots of money when I grow up so that I can buy all the prepaid (game) cards I want without having to ask mommy!"

I roll my eyes. Ya right!

14 comments:

WaterLearner said...

Yups. I think school is fun. I miss my university days. Did you complete your studies in Singapore? I did my degree in NUS. Those were really carefree days. Days are filled with buying titbits to bring to lectures. "Copying" tutorials. Rushing programmes (I did computer programming). But it was very fun. Very carefree. No sense at that time of the importance of money.

Blur Ting said...

Hi Water, the sad truth is when I applied for biz ad in NUS, I couldn't get as it was a very popular course. I was told to try arts & social science but I didn't find the subject combination suitable for me. I wanted to study journalism overseas but my dad just started his own biz and wasn't sure if he could see me thru, so I decided to work first and try again the following year. Once I started working, I lost interest in studying and went on to start my own biz at 21.

I'm sure uni days would be so fun and I would have a great time. Funny thing was when I got divorced (and wasn't sure I could get custody of the kids cos my ex was fighting so hard), my dad suggested that I go back to University in USA. Well, who knows? I could be a matured student one day and be a granny undergrad!

WaterLearner said...

Hey .. looking at how gungho you are, I am not surprised that you would be blogging about some course in Sports Therapy or whatever in some university in US!!

Wow, starting a business at 21!! That's really one great feat!! I always wanted to start my own business doing craft work, teaching people to recycle used wrappers or what not boxes into creative gifts and decos. But since my hubs is now trying out his business, we settle that I should take the safer financial option of being an employed staff :-) Who knows, five years down the line, I would have a blog for my new company!

Blur Ting said...

You're right. I have considered taking a course in that direction before.

You're a good wife to let your hubby fulfill his dreams first. You must keep your dream alive too and I hope to see you become a successful businesswoman soon!

J@n!ce said...

Love those conversation. Its so true when we say 'see how', most likely is "not going"... LOL :)

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

Well, when you're in school, all you can think of it to finish school and start work, then we you actually start work and have to actually earn a living, you'll want to go back to school! LOL!

But seriously though, I don't think I could ever go back to school and be saddled with homework and stuff ...

Blur Ting said...

Ha ha Janice, so you're also a guilty 'see how' mummy!

Blur Ting said...

Nick - But your advertising job is like school. You have assignments to complete and you have homework (blogging asssignments) too!

Amel said...

HI HI HI HI HI...I once read a discussion thread in a site and the guy who wrote it was a university student and he was asking which one was tougher: working or being a uni student. He was at first thought it was tougher being a student.

I wrote a list of things about the fact that being a uni student was MUCH MORE FUN than being an employee HE HE HE HE HE HE...

He read it and replied...and I replied back with more examples...and he said, "OK, OK, I GIVE UP. YOU WIN!"

I DID NOT do that to spite him. I just wanted him to ENJOY his uni days thoroughly!

Amel said...

Granny undergrad sounds GOOD to me, Blur HE HE HE HE:..

The Real Mother Hen said...

Life life life, if he makes a lot of money, he will be so stressed out and won't have time to play game :)

The Real Mother Hen said...

Hey come to Oregon to study, we have good schools here :)

In all seriousness, I still take classes from the local college, learning how to make sushi, to tai chi, to whatever, it's just fun :)

Blur Ting said...

Amel - well, the grass always appears greener on the other side.

Blur Ting said...

MH- I'm glad you're continuing with your education, especially in the fun courses. I remember you were going to conduct classes too... You go girl!

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