Oreos

Some years ago, there was this TV commercial featuring a dad and his toddler son with a pile of Oreos and a glass of milk each in front of them. The father teaches the son the “right way” to eat an Oreo cookie: break, lick, then dunk. And then down it with a glass of milk. It was a nice picture of a father-son moment in a setting almost all of us have been in: being alone with your dad at the breakfast table and the rest of the house is still asleep.

Well, I didn’t have an Oreo cookie moment with my dad when I was growing up. Oreos were a luxury for our family when I was a toddler (I had to settle for those local Hi-ro cookies). And my dad doesn’t know the right way to eat an Oreo or a Hi-Ro cookie. It so happens that my instinctive way of eating a Hi-Ro cookie is the same way the Oreo commercial showed it; hence, in other words, I learned how to eat a sandwich cookie by myself.

And that is how pretty much my dad let me grow up. Learn most of the things by myself.

Like tie my shoelaces. (My teachers always wonder why my shoelaces keep coming off).

Or making my own projects from third grade. (I always envied my other classmates who had their collages made by their parents --- they looked really really good).

Or preparing my dad’s coffee. (It took me about a week to figure out how he liked his coffee).

In retrospect, I realize that what seemed to be my dad’s lack of handholding to me when I (and the rest of my siblings) was growing up is his way of teaching us to be independent, creative and competitive. I believe that all those times that when I was struggling to tie my own shoelaces or trying to make my first electrical circuit, my dad was stealthily watching me from a distance and silently cheering me to succeed in my small tasks.

And for that I am thankful. Much of what I have achieved now is mostly because my father taught me how to get or accomplish what I want with my own resources.

At lunch earlier, I had a surpise for my dad. A pack of Oreo cookies.

He grabbed a piece, popped it into his mouth and downed it with coffee. He still doesn't know how to eat an Oreo cookie.

Happy Father’s Day, Pops!