Tag: parents

The perks of being the only child

Day 11 of 30 days writing challenge’s topic is talk about siblings. The thing is, I’m the only child. I don’t have any siblings. So, should i write…..nothing?

Haha, kidding! Let me tell you, the perks of being the only child.

Some people always thought it’s great being the only child. Every time they found out that I’m the only child, it’s always “wow, that’d must be fun!” and never “ooh, that’s must be lonely!”. Well, is it?

Actually, Your parents could be (a bit) overprotective. I told you once I could only join the field trip during my high school if, and only if, my mom join the trip as well. I didn’t join my middle school field trip because my parents were too worry that I needed to spend every nights on the boat (Live on Boat) in the rural area of East Borneo. My mom gave me permission to ride a bike around the housing or to school when I just reached 8th grade. I could have a boyfriend when I reached 21 years old only. Every day I have to let my mom knows every time I go to office and go back home. My curfew never changed even though I’m married now; 9pm is always considered super late night. And to add it up, you don’t have any siblings to share the burden. Still think it’s fun ?

IT IS fun being the only child. You own all of the toys. Fight over PlayStation’s joystick? Huh, What kind of activity is that? Envy over your siblings clothes? Please…you want to try mine? All of the attention is yours. You’ll get the best toy, best clothes, best phone, best gadget, best educations, and best experiences. Not only that, You’ll spend a lot of quality time with your parents. You travel together, make fun to each other, and most importantly, have a nice bonding only just the three of you. You learn a lot about being an adult, because you always tag a long to your parents. You feel like it’s easier to open and share your burden to your parents, because it’s only just the three of you. It’s fun, sweet, warm and full of happiness.

There’s a stereotype that being the only child, we will be spoilt. No no no, I’m far from that. My parents let me to choose everything in my life. Which college to go, which company to join, and which man to be married with. As long as it’s a positive activities, they’ll always support me. They let me to have language courses (so far, English, Deutsch and Japanese). They’re okay with me playing futsal, though in Indonesia futsal is still considered as man thing. My mom always let me (if not to push) to do house chores and learn on how to cook. When my school grade was getting worse, I got scolded and grounded. My parents will give and do the best for me. Well, it’s kinda hard to see it that way when you were still kids, but, again, I am who I am because of them. And I think being the only child really is a blessing in disguise for me 🙂

May I introduce you, Mr. & Mrs. Sulistyo

They are my awesome parents. Living in Bandung, enjoying their retirement happily. Finding new hobby such as gardening, or simply doing their old hobbies without any limitation such as traveling (before pandemic, of course), cooking (my mom’s only, of course), or watching movies (this is my dad’s, for sure).

My dad is retired now from his long long long years of careers. Most of his career spent in Bontang, the city I was born. He loves watching movies and TV series. We spent many times hunting laser discs (do you still remember this thing?) and DVDs. He recorded my very first Disney cartoon using video tape, so he’s the one who’s responsible of me being a Disney freak like today. I remember he did a lot of sport as well. I remember seeing his photos wearing baseball and basketball jersey. He showed me his tennis racquet once. I cheered him playing volleyball. He was the commodore of sailing club Hobie Fleet 132 for 3 periods. He was also the chairman of Bowling club in Bontang, and actively joined Persatuan Bowling Indonesia for East Borneo. He played golf as well, of course. One of my fav memory with him is when he run along with me, while I was driving my yellow mini jeep (for kids) when I was still a toddler. So yeah, no wonder I love watching movies and doing some sports until now.

Looks like a fun dad, right? To add it up, he’s never leaving a day without….a dad jokes! Every call I have with him is full of puns. He told me once, he’s calling every person named Mohammad Ali (from the yellow pages book) and asked them when they would back boxing again. Or, when someone mistakenly called his phone and looked for Sony. He pretended to be Sony’s friend, Ericsson. If…you know what he meant.

My mom is also an extrovert, just like my dad. She has a lot of friendship that she still manages. Friends from her elementary school, high school, law school. Friends from her organization in Bontang. Even my dad’s school friends become her friends now. Nope, not only in Facebook, but they spent some times together, traveled together, had reunions, attended to the wedding party of the gang’s children, and so on. She loves to cook. I learned a lot from her. I love the way she teaches me how to cook. She always lets me get into the process 100%, regardless the result. Thus, I gain my own experiences, learn from my mistake and know how to do things in kitchen. She cooks for everyone and I think she always feels alive when she cooks.

My mom used to read a lot. But since she had to wear reading glasses, she barely read. But I remember she was an active member of our town library. Every week she always brought new book to read. And not only one, she brought 2 or 3 books to be read for a week! When we moved out from Bontang, the books are only belong to either me or her. So yeah, now you know where I got that sporty, geeky, extrovert, and love to cook in spare time kinda person.

Growing up with them, I learn so much about life. I learn about finding your true love and remain loving them until the rest of our life. My dad still often whispering to me about how beautiful my mom is and my mom always wants to spend most of her time close to him. I learn about parents love. No matter how funny you think it is, it’s still the strongest kind of love. Since I was still in elementary school, my mom always did fasting every time I had exam weeks or final test. It still continued until I was in the university. It still continues until now, let’s say, when I have a high promising job interview or a very important meeting that I have to present. Knowing her praying for me at that particular day just strengthen me and boost my confidence.

Simply to say, I am who I am because of them. And I’m forever in debt to them ❤