Parenting
My family has eight members, six siblings, my mother and father. I identify with African Americans, although on my father’s side it is Portuguese and a mixture of black and white while on my mother’s side it is Native American. Although my ancestors were Portuguese, which is where my last name Cardoza is from my dad identifies with African Americans, which is the reason I also identify with them. The name Cardoza comes from my great grandfather and Cardoza education famous, formally known as Cardoza senior high school in Washington is also named after him. The spelling of my last name was changed from O to A by my great grandmother. I am the firstborn in my family, and my mom and dad had me at the age of 14 and 18 respectively, and they are still happily married.
One event that happened in my upbringing is when my brother picked up my journal and forged my dad’s signature. In school, I was not a very good student and had to provide a letter to my father every week complaining about my homework and behavior. My twin brother, on the other hand, was an excellent student who always completed his homework and had no issues of indiscipline at school. My dad was unhappy about my behavior and was angry at me, which made me afraid of going home. One day when we were in grade six, my brother took my journal and forged my dad signature, and I did not show him the letter. My dad later found out that I had forged his signature and punished me for the lie. This event shaped my thinking about my parents as I then realized that the reason my dad was always angry at me was not that he hated me, but he wanted me to change my behavior and become a responsible person. I am grateful for the way he treated me back then as it enabled me to turn and become a competent person. To me, this event shows that my parents had the best interest for me in their heart.
My mother also had a similar experience when growing up, she was not good in school, and her performance was not excellent. Her parents always pressured her to study hard, but no matter the effort she made, her grades did not improve. She soon began using drugs as she was ashamed of herself. In their family, she was always regarded as the laziest, and her mother mocked her. However, she had a talent in dancing, and every weekend she could go to the social hall for dance practice together with her friends. They could record the dances and post them online. Her mother did not understand the essence of dancing as it could not make her a great person the way education could do. One day, as they were washing their clothes, listening to the radio, she heard the name of their dancing group mentioned as the winners of a dancing competition they had enrolled. She became emotional and the whole of her family celebrated her achievement. Soon her dancing clue was invited to the radio station where they were interviewed about the group and how they formed it. From there, they started receiving invitations to perform at corporate functions, and their reputation grew as one of the best dancing crew in the United States. Her experience with her parents should take note of their children talents and encourage them to pursue their dreams instead of discouraging them.
References
McCarthy, J. R., Edwards, R., & Gillies, V. (2017). Making families: Moral tales of parenting and step-parenting. Taylor & Francis.
Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (2017). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. In Interpersonal development (pp. 161-170). Routledge.
Doepke, M., & Zilibotti, F. (2017). Parenting with style: Altruism and paternalism in intergenerational preference transmission. Econometrica, 85(5), 1331-1371.