Chinese face, Western behavior, Chinese Virtue etc

The topic of raising kids is unavoidable at family gatherings. I shared such a moment yesterday.  One day, I literally stopped on my track, during an argument, looked at my teenage son face to face, eye to eye.  All of sudden, I realized that, this person in front of me has a Chinese face, and I automatically assumed that he understands my value system. In reality, other than the Chinese face, this person really does not know or value the Chinese value system. I should not force my value to him, we should listen more to each other. Still, I could not resist, and told him that he can be rebellious as others, but it is our duty as a parent  to teach and correct. From that moment on, there was less yelling in the house, though there is no shortage of arguments.

Back to the gathering, unaware to me, my elder daughter was close by, and she asked me “have you ever had such a moment of realization with me?”  I was caught off guard by her question. I replied “no”. Her follow up question was why. Then she answered the question with a question, “is it because you two argue a lot, is it because I am an obedient child”? The answer is yes, maybe. 

It is now 6:30am, the day after Christmas, and that is my share of the day.