Today I went to downtown Osaka for my kintsugi class. On the train, I was sitting across a mother and a daughter, and a son was sitting next to me. The boy looked to be around ten years old, and I immediately noticed that he was crying. There was an awkward atmosphere among them.

I didn't want to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help overhearing their conversation. The mother seemed upset that her son wanted to quit something. She blamed why he wanted to quit it and kept asking the reason. She also suggested that he should keep writing something on a notebook and blamed him why he didn't do that. Every time she asked the reasons, he couldn't reply well and kept sobbing. I felt very sorry for the boy.

I know being a mom is a really tough job, but I don't think she should treat her son that way in public. It could leave him emotional scars, and what she's doing might make him dislike whatever he wants to quit. I didn't want to involve into others' domestic problems, so I just pretended to be reading my Kindle.

Speaking from my own experience as a mom, if it were my daughter, I would listen to my daughter's voice. I would probably agree with what she wanted to do. She has her own personality and she isn't me. I don't want to lay out a path for her and force her to follow whatever I want. I think this mother need to realize that she can't control her son.

(5268)