Is this part of growing up?

Most parents want their children to behave well, do as what they say and not to do things that have been told not to. Irregardless whether their children are with them or outside their house, their expection is that their children should be well-behaved. But what if they do things that you don't want them to do?

Well I have in two instances with my eldest son, Aizuddin. He is what Florence Littauer called the "Phlegmatic", an easy going but stubbon, peacefull, indecisive, and like to follow instruction of others (but not their parents).

In few occasions, I have told him not to go out at night especially after 10.00pm. This week they have a week-long school holidays and he thought he could just spend times outside the house at night with friends. At only 16+ years old, he seem like already he has the freedom of his life i.e. want to do whatever he wants to do. Ky & I have numerous time advised him that he is still young and still have to listen to us.

On Friday nite, quietly after dinner, both Aizat & Aizuddin wanted to sneak out after dinner, to go to a mamak shop to watch a football match on the big screen. I told them they should have the courtesy to ask us as their parent first for permission. And I told them why should they waste their time outside the house when they should be studying more especially this is their exam year. Aizat is taking PMR and Aizuddin is taking SPM. After much lecture, both of them went up to their room with sour faces.

Yesterday after dinner, I was told that Aizuddin drove his mom's Avanza around our housing area. Again he gets some lecture from me. I told him that at 16, he can't drive car yet without a proper driving license. And this is not the first occasion. He started driving our Toyota Unser at 15 already. Aizat had also driven my Proton Wira sometimes back. Well we never taught them how to drive. I guess kids nowadays don't need driving lesson at all to drive. They just observed their parents driving and when their parents is out of sight, they will have a high time driving the cars and be back just in time before their parents are back home.

Not only that, Aizuddin sneaked out again after dinner without telling me where he went. At 10.30pm he came back (after his mom called him to come back) and told me that he went out to buy burger with friends. I am more concern of what if something happen to him especially we don't know where he went. Again he got some night lecture from me.

Hmmm.. well what can I say? I didn't do those things when I was growing up. Probably they were no Mamak stall with football matches on big white screen back then. There were no roadside burger stall nor there were McDonnald or KFC. And night life was nothing except that everybody stays home. I guess my father didn't have the automatic cars like we have now. House telephones were scare and handphones were not invented yet. And most importantly, we will do exactly what we were told to do.

But I guess things are different now. With Astro live telecast of footbal matches, kids grew taller than their parents, having their own handphones, living in a city...... they live a different lifestyle. And that is part of growing up now!!!