A Nigerian dad has shared his disappointment after his encounter with a co-passenger on a train ride to the FCT. The dad, Usman Shamaki took to Twitter to recount how the stranger lectured him against apologising to his children because it will spoil them. Usman shared that he left his house around 6am while his children were still sleeping so that he could catch the train to Abuja.
His wife later called him that his kids wanted to speak with him.
The dad-of-two while speaking with his children apologised to them for leaving without telling them goodbye. According to Usman, he noticed a co-passenger staring at him in disbelief. Once he was done speaking with his family, the passenger proceeded to lecture him not to apologise to his children because it will spoil them and also make them feel important.
”I left the house at 6am before the kids woke up so that I could catch the 1st train back to Abuja. While I was in transit my wife called. The kids had woken up & wanted to speak to me. I apologized to them for leaving without saying goodbye. I didn’t want to wake them.
While I was speaking to them, a gentleman sitting in the opposite seat had this incredulous look on his face. When I was done with my call, he asked if it was my kids I was speaking to. I answered in the affirmative. Then he asked if it was them I was apologizing to. I said Yes.
Dude goes on to give me a lecture about how it’s wrong to apologize to kids: Man: When u apologize to children u start to give them a feeling of self importance & they start to act spoilt. Me: That’s strange. My parents apologized to me when they were wrong & I’m not spoilt.
Me: Secondly, apologizing to them teaches them a valuable lesson; to accept responsibility when they are wrong and to learn to apologize when they’re wrong. Man: Young man you are wrong. See, these kids of nowadays should be raised strictly. Apologizing to them will spoil them.
Me: Sir, do you know there is a direct link between how u treat your kids and how they turn out in future? If you treat them harshly, that is how they’ll most likely turn out and they’ll treat their kids the same way. Man: You are still young. You don’t know how the world works.
Me: OK Sir. I appreciate u taking the time to lecture me on life & raising kids. Let me raise my kids to be compassionate, considerate and kind. Raise yours to be how u want them to be. Are we good? Dude kept looking at me and shaking his head like I had committed a major sin.
I can’t understand how anyone would think it’s wrong to apologize to a child when you’re wrong and the fact that you’re wrong is so apparent. No wonder there are entitled and impolite people walking around thinking the world revolves around them.”
See the original post below:
I left the house at 6am before the kids woke up so that I could catch the 1st train back to Abuja. While I was in transit my wife called. The kids had woken up & wanted to speak to me. I apologized to them for leaving without saying goodbye. I didn't want to wake them.
