Child Has an Opinion

A nine-year-old child shocked his parents Thursday by expressing an opinion about the lunch he was served, going so far as to comment on its taste and salt content. 

Little Hamoodeh made the abrasive comments in question despite not knowing any better and being too young to have any significant taste buds or opinions about the world.

Hammodeh’s father, Munir Taralali, denounced his son’s newly-acquired habit of having opinions, complaining that he was going into various discussions as if he were a human being. 

“I am his father, therefore if I serve him dog food he is expected to eat it while smiling as that is ingrained in filial piety,” Munir said.

Munir recalled the good old days, when children were too well-behaved to make their voices heard.

“I never dared to speak or even raise my head up in the presence of my father or my uncle, or my other uncle, or my mother’s uncle, or my father’s uncle, or Abu Jihad our neighbour or his brother Abu Waqas or the shopkeeper downstairs or my brother or in the presence of any older male,” he said. “Here we are, righteous and mannered. We know how to shut it up or do nothing regarding everything happening around us; this is exemplified with my boss’s love and respect toward me since I do not argue with his systemic embezzlement.” 

He added “I did not even voice my objection, nor approval, when my father found me my wife. It is true, twenty years later, we are still not in love, but we are stable and our family values are intact, even after Hamoodeh’s latest excesses, as stability comes from keeping your opinions to yourself.”

Munir warned other parents against the dangers of drifting towards the latest trends in parenting. 

“The problem lies in parents raising children differently to the way we were raised,” he said. “You observe today’s youth voicing their grievances and shouting in the streets like animals, while we tread carefully and silently next to walls.”