What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen. ~Cynthia Ozick

Some nights ago, may napanood akong documentary ng isang robbery na naganap dito sa NZ. Very elaborate ang planong ginawa ng mga robbers. Matagal nilang ni-plano ang lahat. At nakailang dry-runs pa sila para siguradong perpekto ang execution.

Apat na katao ang gumawa ng krimen. Una, successful ang ginawa nilang nakawan. Almost 2 million ang nakuha nilang halaga. Pero gaano man sila katalino, bobo pa rin sila dahil in two weeks time, natunton sila ng Police at isa-isa sa kanila ang nahuli at umamin ng kanilang involvement sa krimen.

Nung mahuli sila, ewan ko ba kung bakit naawa pa ako sa isa sa kanila. Yung isang magnanakaw, pagkatapos niyang makuha ang share niya, imbes na magtago at mag-lie-low muna, ang ginawa nagpakasaya ng todo. At alam niyo ba kung papaano siya nagpakasaya? He spent the whole day enjoying all the rides at Rainbow's End (an amusement park in Auckland)! May mga souvenir photos pa siya.

When asked why he did what he did, he simply said that he wanted to experience the things he never had the chance to do when he was a kid. Actually, naiyak ako sa sinabi niya. Here is person who became a criminal because he simply wanted to be a kid for one day!

I know what he and his cohorts did was wrong and nothing whatsoever can justify their crime. But I understand too that people are not inherently bad. Sometimes because of a difficult childhood, some people become vulnerable and it becomes easy for them to be swayed into doing criminal acts.

I think as parents it is our duty to teach our children good moral values. Teach them what’s right and wrong. But more than that we also owe it to them to make them happy by allowing them to enjoy their childhood. Para pag laki nila masabi nila that they had a very enjoyable childhood and that they would not change it for anything else.