Open Letter to My Son – Why do you need to be a winner

Dear Miki,

Hi son, how are you? There is nothing more that I am hoping for but your excellent health and peace of mind. I am writing this today 8 Oct 2017 and you are 9 years old.  There have been tonnes of milestones and stories of sad and happy that I missed writing in this blog but today I think I will.

I am writing this on my laptop at our dining table. You are seated in front of me doing your homework. I could be better off typing away in my room and you could also do your homework in the comfort of your room but no, should your mother is not there 1 meter away from you, no homework shall be done. You will be sitting at your desk alright, but the books with homework will go into stealth mode and you shall resort to doodling and drawing caricatures of your favorite Pokemons.

So yeah..Ok, I will sit here, even when you don’t need my help with your homework, you just need me to be the guardian penunggu gua, k fine…

Throughout 3 years of school, you have won many competitions and awards. But last week, you got this notebook for winning second place in  spelling competition in conjunction with English Language Month. It is a simple notebook but my oh my, you were so happy. It got a rotating calendar on it and it comes with a pen too, you explained to me with glee.

Congratulations son, I am pleased that you won which means you’re good with English subject, but more than that, I really feel like giving your teacher a hug and thank her for all the activities and competitions organized. I thank your teacher for the opportunities for the kids to learn while being competitive. Teachers, you are doing such great jobs! I see a lot of significant improvements in the learning environment at Miki’s school this year in compared to previous years. Kudos!

Miki, I marvel at how much you are are happy and proud of the humble notebook with rotating calendar. Yes, I am so pleased, my hearts so full of happiness, Alhamdulillah.

Miki, in your life, you have  a lot of stuff. You have a lot of cool stuff, expensive stuff that your Daddy and I never even dreamed of when we were kids. So when you are so proud and happy of that notebook with rotating calendar, I am telling you son, on top of the coolness of the book, the pride and happiness that you feel is from WINNING. You might not be able to distinguish it, but that sweet feeling is actually the joy of WINNING.

Throughout life I am confident you will win many more prizes, awards even girls’ hearts. But there will be time when you will lose. Always remember that ok? And when you lose it is OK. It is normal… don’t be sad. If you feel sad just count the great many times that you have succeeded and this time around, it is someone else’s turn to feel the joy of winning.

But that doesn’t mean that you must not always strive to being the best. Because everytime you win something, Miki, the confidence within you that benefits the most. You will be more positive and you will feel cooler!

Your Daddy and I have this theory, Miki, that confidence, positivity and so called coolness can save a person from being bad. The more you win or the more you are good at stuff, the cooler you feel. And a cool kid does not need to proof himself cool by smoking, by skipping school, by taking drugs etc…

A kid that is cool or feels cool about himself, does not need to leave hate comment on Social media and be a keyboard warrior. Cool kids don’t need to bully weaker kids to feel like a winner and superior.  Coolness can be a savior!

That is why Miki, I want you to pay attention in school and learn your lessons. Khatam your Quran and play sports. We want you to be the best that you can be… experience a lot of things in this life and feel awesome about yourself.

If some friends are being shady, don’t burn their school to the ground… (the tahfiz school case, remember?) you are cool, move along and forget those losers ever exist, after all, you are too cool for them! You got what I mean?

So there you go my son. Be nice to the world and the world will be nice to you! Mummy, Daddy and Rafa loves you to bits!

Miki with Cikgu Siti Hawa, which is the best teacher he has ever gotten since he started schooling. I have never met any teacher as dedicated, as passionate and concerned about all her students like this teacher. May Allah bless her! In this photo, she was giving away small hamper gift (money she raised herself)  to Miki because he won 1st Place in Eco-Friendly Bag Making competition.

Of course Miki won haha! His couture is inspired by Mummy’s pinatas. hehe! The bag used a milk cartoon as the body. Daddy helped attached the linoleum strips as handles and cut the 14 points stars, Mummy cut paper strips (kids are not supposed to use sharp scissors) and taught him how to layer the strips. Other than that everything was done by you! Congrats on you creativity!