| 1. | 1st Birthday |
(1 year)
A day celebrated by parents to mark the healthy well-being of their child
after a trying period of a calendar year since birth. May involve inviting relatives and friends
to a meal at home. Nope, you would be too young to understand or remember this! |
| 2. | 1st Nursery Day
 |
(3-5 years)
A whole new experience where one will be exposed to an environment full
of children his/her age. May be a frightening and tearful day for a child with the noise, crowd
and/or unfamiliar strange place.
|
| 3. | 1st Elementary
School Day |
(7 years)
An upgraded exposure to a bigger place, bigger crowd of people and a more
disciplined and orderly set of routines. However it would not be as traumatic an experience as
the first day at nursery school. Will make new friends.
|
| 4. | Licensed to Drive |
(16-18 years)
Look! Who's behind the steering wheel? Cool.. Even cooler, if the
four-wheeler is a new sporty type. With the new-found flexible mobility as well as a boost to the
teenager's image, he/she will make new friends (to ferry around). Freedom in new grounds.. Vrroooomm!!
|
| 5. | 1st College/
University Day |
(17-19 years)
Excitement of exploring campus life.
|
| 6. | 21st Birthday |
(21 years)
Finally..., legally an adult! Goodbye to curfews after 11pm. And hey,
you politicians better watch out! I am now a voter!
|
| 7. | Graduation Day |
(20-25 years)
A proud and precious moment shared with mum and dad (and
girlfriend/boyfriend - if any). Better make sure a momento photo shot is taken here, else you may regret
later on. Immediately however, one joins the ranks of the unemployed.
|
| 8. | 1st Day at Work |
(21-26 years)
Hello, world.. Here I come! As a freshie, the ambitious one will be
full of life, energy and drive to prove oneself. The unknown is a challenge taken head-on to develop
his/her career.
|
| 9. | Love is in the air |
(18-27 years)
Ouch! Too late.. Cupid's up to his tricks... What a beautiful feeling.
Irrational and funny behaviour follows.. Usual circle of friends is dumped and excessive time spent
in the company of a single young female or male - doing almost everything together.
|
| 10. | Tying the Knot |
(25-32 years)
The courtship is a done deal. Proceeding to upgrade the relationship.
A path of legal and moral implications. You have chosen to spend the rest of your life with the special
one who would not only be your spouse.. but your friend, confidant and conscience. Not aware of this??!
Better think about it before rushing to this stage!
|
| 11. | I'm a Parent |
(26-35 years)
Wonderful and yikes! See whether the initial euphoria is dampened by
a daily dosage of having to answer a series of sudden early morning calls from your own flesh-and-blood.
Arrange turns with your spouse alternatively to service this "difficult" customer - so that at least both
of you will have sufficient rest once every two days. You no longer place priority on yourselves. All
decisions made from a simple day-to-day question of "Where to have dinner?" to a more complicated "How do
we spend our holidays?" are centered on the little one. Your life routines will be turned upside-down :(.
However, despite all that, it is quite easy to forget the "horrific" experiences when the baby chooses to
be angelic. Somehow (trust me!), it was worth all the trouble parents go through for the cute fella.
There is always someone who will come running excitedly to the door to greet and hug you warmly when you
come home after a hard day at work.
|
| 12. | Independent
Offspring |
(33-51 years)
Before you know it.. "Hey, my little boy or girl is now a young adult!"
He/she will be engaged in his/her own routines, charting his/her path just as you did. There would be
less reliance on the parents. You may see him/her less at home and spending less time together with the
family. More of his/her time would be diverted to his/her friends. He/she also may display preferences to
things which may seem too eccentric or weird to your liking. Accept it as a generation gap with an open
mind. As a parent, you just need to check up on him/her occasionally. And be there if he/she ever need a
comforting shoulder. Show that you are always available for him/her - no matter how busy or tired you are.
|
| 13. | I'm an In-Law |
(43-61 years)
After the celebration, you have an addition to the family who will
address you as "mum" or "dad" (or whatever your newly-married son/daughter calls you). Get used to it!
Just as you have in addressing your parents-in-law at least a decade back.
|
| 14. | Retired |
(50-58 years)
Finally! The day comes when you can just drop everything (or pass over
all your job responsibilities to someone else at work) with a sign of relief and excitement. The long
hard struggle in your career is now ever. But what's next? Looking forward to spending more time with
the family? Doing your favourite hobby things? Take it real easy from this point onwards? Or just a new
beginning in starting something big - a business to call your own, perhaps?
|
| 15. | I'm a Grandparent |
(44-65 years)
Here comes the golden age. An elevation in status. Opportunity to
share yesteryear experiences with your grandchildren who would be impressed with how your tough and
"ancient" early days were like... no color TV, no McDonalds, no Starbucks Coffee, no handphone/SMS,
no Internet/e-mail..., and that monstrosity with merely an 8MHz processor, 128K RAM, green monochrome
monitor, dual floppy drives, and zero multimedia functions called personal computer! Gross!! :0
|
