Who’s Keeping Score? - Tiger Mum vs Cheerleader

Over the weekend I attended the Enfiniti Academy Graduation/Presentation. The kids and adults who had attended the semesters and the Boot Camp for the year presented their progress and was awarded certificates.

One of the teens' presentation was an original titled Who’s Keeping Score? As soon as he spoke his first few words, my kids turned to look at me smirking.
The line? " I got 5A's and 1B and Mum says what did you get the B for?"

You see, this year’s UPSR, when my son got 5A's and 1C, I congratulated him on his 5A's and then spent a little more time on the C. Why? Did he think he could have done better? There was a little “I told you so” thrown in too. I wanted him to understand, that if he had set his mind to do something, the actions need to match his intention. Of course, my friend said I was being too dramatic and I should stop focusing on the C.

Then this morning, we collected my daughter’s results for PT3. She had been managing my expectations for a month now. “You know Mummy, apparently not many got straight A's”, “Mummy, apparently the marks dropped this year”, “Mummy, apparently all the kids struggled with Science. They didn’t teach us everything”…. and it went on and on.

The school principal started off with explaining the current grading system. This wholistic approach, encompasses sports, attitude, co-curriculum and not just the academics. However, she wanted to give credit to those who had sacrificed to get straight A’s and almost straight A’s and applauded them while urging everyone to do their best for SPM and taking the next couple of years seriously in every aspect including attendance.

K got 6A's, 2B's and 2C's. Which in all honestly was pretty good. Yes, like her brother, she could have done better. I say this because she became a teen and with that discovered FUN. And the last couple of years, her balance of the two became off centre. Having said that, this young lady, with no tuition and minimal supervision except for the nagging from yours truly every now and then did a pretty good job.

So yes! I told her she did good but I also told her she could have done better. I want my kids to understand that if they want something, their actions are going to have to match their talk. Yes fun is important, but they will have to learn to manage their time and prioritise.

So for now we are going to go for some big, fat steaks to celebrate the achievements before we get back to the hustle. So I guess that makes me the Tiger Mum and the Cheerleader.

Credits: The sketches of K were done by K. I love them. Thank you @artik