I am getting overwhelmed with Đạo and Đán’s schedule of activities these days. Every Wednesday, they have swim practice from 5:15 pm to 6 pm. Every Friday, the have lion dance from 5 pm to 6:30 pm, Boy Scout from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, and Vietnamese language from 8:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Every Saturday, they have Taekwondo from 3 pm to 5 pm.

I am cool with swimming as a sport, lion dance as a form of art, and Taekwondo as a self-defense. I am also fine with learning Vietnamese. Boy Scout is still new for me. My wife signed them up with the Vietnamese pack. They get to hangout with other Vietnamese-American kids just like them. I also have the opportunity to meet other Vietnamese-American parents who go the extra mile for their kids. They take them to weekly meetings, help them with fundraising, provide food for events, and accommodate them to camping trips.

As parents, we do so much for our kids. In addition to school, we are packing up their days with so many activities, but not giving them time and space to think for themselves. They don’t have their own time to be creative or innovative. We are shaping them up of how we wanted them to be instead of letting them figuring out the rope themselves.

When I was a kid, my mom put no restriction on me. Her only unwritten requirement was that I better get through four years of college. Other than that I was pretty could do anything I wanted. I didn’t make all the right choices, but I made all my own choices. I struggled and survived on my own. I am still not sure how she let me free like that. She did not do anything for me, except for making the best home-cook meals. She never looked at my report cards and she never asked me how I was doing in school. Somehow in the back of my mind, I just knew I could not screwed up. I felt guilty if I watched too much TVs and didn’t do my homework. I felt like I let her down if I failed. She devoted her entire life on me.

Now if I give my kids no restrictions, they will spend every single minute on their iPads. Even though we only allow them to have iPads on the weekend, that’s all they think about on the weekend. We were out having a picnic with the Boy Scouts yesterday and all he wanted to do was to go home and play on his iPad.

On one hand, I don’t want to fill out their time with too many activities. I want them to relax and to be bored so that they are forced to think outside the box. I want them to find their own passion and creativity. On the other hand, I can’t stand back watching them gluing their eyes to the screens.

I am not sure if I have articulated my point. I feel like I am too involved in their lives. I am not trusting them to live on their own and to make their own path in life. I worry that if they make bad decisions they would end up in jail or being a junkie. Just saying.

A year ago today, my life was filled with joy and trauma at once. My baby boy, whose birth sent me to an ER for the first time in my life, turns one today. I simply can’t believe how fast time has flown by. Balancing life and family has been stressful, but Vương has been nothing but a bundle of joy.

His smile melts every heart. His brothers love him even though they treat him like a doll. They rough him up, but he doesn’t seem to mind. I was so afraid that Đán would accidentally drop Vương’s head first to the ground, but I am glad that had not happened yet. I am more nervous for our little son than he is himself. I can now trust Đạo and Đán with Vương.

In addition to his constant smiling, Vương has an ear for music. Every time I turn on Vietnamese dance pop or hip-hop, he would feel the beat and dance to it. He recognizes his favorite songs and shows it through his joyful groove.

He decided to walk just a few weeks shy from his first birthday. He can now walk and jam to the music at the same time. I love watching him walk and dance around the house.

I wish I could slow down time because Vương is our last baby. I am going to miss these precious moments. They grow way too fast. I am still glad that I have been able to see him making his progress through life.

Happy first birthday, son. I love you.

Just two weeks into his second grade, Đán already started trouble. His general-music/healthy-habits teacher already emailed me about his behavior in class. He rolled around the floor and played around with the power cable connected to a projector. He didn’t follow instructions during lock-down drill. He ignored his teacher and distracted other students. We talked to him right after school. He told us that he was bored. We asked him to behave and he promised.

Yesterday, I received a call from his English and Spanish teachers. They both told me similar stories. He was bouncing on a chair and when his English teacher asked him to stop he ignored him. He said that he didn’t care. After school, I gave him an earful. I told him that he broke his promise to us. His response was, “I forgot.” I wanted to smack the sense out of him, but I didn’t. I took him and Đạo to swimming lesson early, but I only let Đạo into the water to play before class. He screamed and begged me, but I did not concede. It was a long hour, but I needed him to remember.

My wife talked to him at night as well. Since I will be away, I am hoping that she won’t let him have screen time on this weekend. He has to learn his lesson. As much as I like to give my kids freedom, we have to reign him in somehow.

I am contradicting myself as a father. I don’t want to put too much restraint on him. For the summer, I tried to give him as much room as possible. I didn’t say anything when he didn’t want to brush his teeth, take a bath, or eat his meal. I let him play iPad as much as his heart desired. I gave up on teaching him to read. My wife said I was ignoring him.

All of the sudden, he comes around to reading. We still read picture books, but I am fine with them as long as he wanted to read. He even wanted to write book report for his class assignments. I have been more than happy to help him out. I have been so proud of him and I told him so until his misbehaving this week.

All I can do now is reminding him to behave in class. All I can do now is hoping that he will change his behavior without killing his free spirit. He is still my baby boy.

Sáng nay sau khi cắt cỏ, tôi trở vào nhà uống nước, nghỉ ngơi, và đợi cho mồ hôi ráo. Mấy thằng lớn thì ôm iPad chỉ còn lại Vương ngồi chơi một mình. Thấy vậy tôi đến chơi với nó. Không bao lâu nó lại bò vào lòng ngực tôi. Sợ mồ hôi và cỏ trên áo thun làm nó dơ nhưng nó vẫn ôm chặt lấy tôi và tựa đầu nói vào vai tôi. Không bao lâu nó thiếp đi. Đặc nó xuống ngủ ngon lành. Thằng này dễ dãi thấy mà thương.

Đán nói:

Khi ba mẹ chết con sẽ không lập gia đình. Chỉ ở vậy để lo lắng cho em Xuân, em Vương, và anh Đạo. Nhưng ba có thể đầu thai thành con chó trở về chơi với tụi con không?

Thằng này là comedian tương lai của tôi hay là nó muốn chửi xéo ba nó?

My seven-year-old nephew is getting used to having his dad finishing up his food for him. Whether a plate of cold pasta or a bowl of mushy phở, his dad took it all in. The other day, he had two bites left from his spring roll and yet he did not want to finish it because he wanted to play on his iPad with my kids. I told him Đạo and Đán would wait for him and the iPad would wait for him. He just needed to finish up two bites, but he refused and his dad let him off the table.

This weekend, my wife made delicious dumpling noodles. He ate all the dumplings and half of the noodle. His dad was not there so he asked him mom to finish it. Unlike his dad, his mom would never eat his leftover. She told him, “If you can’t finish it, give it to grandma.” My mother-in-law refused not because she didn’t want to, but she was also trying to finish her own bowl.

I said to him, “You can finish it. There’s not that much left.” He looked angry. I handed him my bowl and said, “Why don’t you finish mine and I’ll finish yours.” He shook his head. I went on, “So you don’t want to eat my leftover, but you expect others to eat yours?” He began to sob his mom came over to calm him down, “That’s OK if you can’t finish it.” She took the bowl and dumped the rest into the trash can.

My wife gave me a look for making him cry. I was just trying to teach him about not wasting food. I did not feel bad for him at all, but I did feel bad for my wife. She took her time to made the noodle soup for everyone. Đạo and Đán helped wrapping the dumplings.

This issue can be easily avoidable if parents just give their kids a small portion first. If they didn’t have enough, they can ask for more. I lived in Vietnam and witnessed first hand how hungry children eating strangers’ leftovers at phở places. It broke my heart and irritated me to see this kind of behavior from Asian-American kids.

Vietnamese parents, please make your kids finish their own fucking food.

In the middle of the night, Đán stormed out of bed and into the bathroom. He turned on the light, urinated, turned off the light, and went back to bed without flushing. I went to check and didn’t see any urine in the toilet. He pissed into the trash can instead. Unbelievable!

Thêm một đồng nghiệp rời bỏ một công việc ổn định mình để dành thời gian cho con cái. Cô ta tâm sự rằng thay vì đi làm trả tiền nhà trẻ cho hai đứa con cũng hết sao không nghỉ ở nhà để được gần gũi con cái. Lúc chúng nó học mẫu giáo hoặc lớp một thì trở lại làm. Bây giờ là lúc chúng nó cần có cha mẹ nhiều nhất.

Tôi khâm phục những người mẹ như cô ấy dám bỏ cả sự nghiệp của mình để lo cho con cái. Lý luận của cô ta rằng sự nghiệp không quan trọng vì hết công việc này còn công việc khác sau này. Con cái thì chỉ có một lần tuổi ấu thơ. Từ lúc nó biết bò cho đến nó biết đi cho đến sinh nhật đầu tiên chỉ có một lần. Khi chúng nó lớn rồi thì không thể quay trở lại.

Đúng thế, vì mới đây mà thằng Vương đã 10 tháng. Nó thay đổi từng ngày một. Sáng đi làm chiều về đã thấy nó khác. Từ cách nó bò càng ngày càng rành rẽ đến những món ăn nó nhai tuy chỉ mới có hai cái răng. Từ nụ cười hồn nhiên đến những cái nhịp theo nhạc, tôi muốn những thú vị ấy sẽ tồn tại mãi. Nhưng tôi biết là không thể nào vì tôi đã ba lần kinh nghiệm. Những phút giây quý báu ấy sẽ trôi qua. Tôi thường trêu vợ rằng cố gắng chịu khó mà thưởng thức đi. Đây là cơ hội cuối cùng của em đấy.

Chúng tôi rất may mắn vì vẫn có thể cân bằng giữa sự nghiệp và gia đình. Hơn nữa được mẹ vợ giúp đỡ trông nom thằng út. Khi tôi nhắc đến mẹ, cô ta bảo lúc mới sinh cũng có mẹ chồng rồi mẹ cô ở tạm nhưng hai vợ chồng đã quá mệt mỏi phải “hosting guests.” Người Mỹ là thế họ coi cha mẹ cũng như là khách.

Thôi thì chúc cô may mắn và hạnh phúc với gia đình của mình. Ít ra sau này cô sẽ không hối hận hay áy náy vì công ăn việc làm mà đã bỏ bê con.

After reading Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, I wanted to blog about something delightful. These days, what brings me joy the most is observing my nine-month-old Vương. His constant smiles, showing his two front bottom teeth, are always a delight. He can’t walk yet, but he swings his arms and shakes his booty every time I put on Vietnamese hip-hop. I just want to freeze time because he is growing way too fast. He is our fourth boy and our final.

Whenever strangers asked me how many kids we have, my reply would be four, but Đán would always corrected me: “We actually have six, but two were dead.” The stunned look on strangers’ faces delighted me. They were caught off guard and didn’t really know how to respond. Some would say, “I am sorry.” I just nodded and offered no explanation.

Ever since my wife told Đán about the two miscarriages she had, he always told people about his two dead siblings. I felt a bit awkward at first, but I am getting used to it. I am delighted that my wife has been opened about it.

Hôm nay trở lại Facebook thấy gia đình người ta đi du lịch ngắm nhìn cảnh vật thế giới. Vợ chồng con cái hưỡng thụ những giây phút nhẹ nhàng. Hình ảnh chụp thật tuyệt vời.

Khi gia đình tôi đi du lịch thì ầm ĩ. Hai thằng con lớn không ngồi yên. Thằng giữa thì la lối ôm sòm. Đi chơi còn mệt hơn cả đi làm. Không la đứa này thì hét đứa nọ. Từ chổ ăn đến chổ ở chẳng có giây phút nào được thư giãn trừ khi lúc chúng nó ngủ.

Gia đình của tôi là thế đấy. Nhưng rồi cũng quen. Không có bọn chúng quấy nhiễu cũng buồn. Tụi nó chẳng cũng thế. Không bị cha mẹ rầy la nó chịu không nổi. Thôi thì hình nhà ai nấy đẹp đi vậy. Được có thời gian cho nhau là quý lắm rồi.