Mixed feelings about the kids' new entrepreneurial venture

Inspired by his Economic and Management Sciences course at school, Shakeel (13) has decided to follow in his dad's entrepreneurial footsteps.

He, Tharaa  (10)and Nuha (7) undertook to combine whatever monies they acquired on Eid and pump it into their first venture.

I was ambivalent about this. On the one hand, building and growing a business could inspire a good work ethic, discipline, resourcefulness and develop their ability to work with money (as opposed to spending it on Playstation games (Shakeel), Kinderjoys (Tharaa) and bubblegum (Nuha) ).

On the other hand I didn't want them to get distracted from their main priority - their school work . More importantly, I know people who started making a buck on the side when they were kids - and, instead of this industriousness filtering through to their studies and careers, it has shifted the focus from their studies/careers. None of these people I know have gone on to build huge successful businesses - instead, now as adults, they are still always on the lookout for an opportunity to make a buck here or there. It's as if their taste of 'being their own bosses' has rendered them incapable of working for a boss. Which, in itself is not a bad thing, I suppose - if you have managed to grow one of your businesses to become a thriving successful enterprise.

But some of these people live from business deal to business deal - making a killing from one venture and then peanuts from the next.

I know there must be successful people who started out this way. I'm sure there are people who started out as young entrepreneurs, who are hugely now successful.

But, in this day and age, a sound education should remain the basis of their future plans - even if it ends up serving as their safety net, while they grow their huge conglomerates. I am fully aware that Shakeel is very likely to make much more as a successful business owner than as a paleontologist, but I still want him to have that university degree - even if it just becomes his fall-back option.

Anyway, this was merely supposed to be a post about little birds (as opposed to a negative paranoid rant) - with a few weird-looking pictures showing them being fed. Yes, the kids have decided to make some extra cash by becoming bird breeders. This choice was logical, I suppose - since their dad is so passionate about his avian babies and the kids are therefore quite accustomed to seeing birds being hand-reared.

They bought a pair of fischer parrots (male and female) , along with their two newly-hatched babies. Since the parents were not doing a very good job of feeding the babies (judging from the fact that the babies' crops remained empty), Mo (assisted by Shakeel) fed the birds a special porridge using a syringe.

I'm not sure if I found this cute or creepy. As we watched the little featherless hatchlings, we weren't sure whether to go ''awwww, how cute'' or ''eeeek!''



 

Their little box opened for the first time that day

 

 

 

Mo feeds his baby some special porridge

 

I really can't decide - is this cute or gross?

Yikes, look at that neck

 

No comment *shudder*

 

 

 

And it's the sister's turn. Background -Aisha losing interest in the whole process

 

 

Uh-oh, someone's becoming adventurous. He surprised us by climbing right out of the tub where he's saved by  ( a no doubt, shuddering) Shakeel

 

My brave son handles the creepy/cute hatchling

 

 

''Please sir, may I have some more?''

 

And, there he goes again
 

 

''What the hell is this - Jurassic Park?'' Aisha's probably wondering

 

 

Dad (yellow): ''Where did we go wrong, honey? With good looks like ours, we should have hatched little beauties''
Mom (green): ''I don't know, but I can assure you - they don't take after my side of the family.''

Okay, enough of my meanness. They are adorable little birdies - in fact I shall nestle them fondly in my naked hands (eek!) and administer their next porridge feeding.

*Shudder* (with happy anticipation, obviously)