If I was a young pre-teenage boy

November has been a month of "If I was" blogs. If you have noticed, October was "My name is".

So for certain I have some surprised stored for December but before I get ahead of myself, this is going to likely be the last blog this November.

I may re-visit this "If I was" theme again sometime in the future but you'll just have to wait and see.

Now, I have a very fond memory of when I was 5 years old and I also have a not so fond memory when I was 10 years old. I even remember specific dates. When I was 5, it was April 6, 1974 and when I was 10, it was February 12, 1979.

Apart from these memories, which I will share in a while, I also look at the kids nowadays and think back 30 years back when I was a pre-teenage boy. With growing technology comes vast amount of difference in what kids eat, learn and play.

I remember when I was 5, my dad's friend, whom in Asian culture we call uncle, came over to my house with a birthday cake and I blew out candles. It was a simple cake but you will be surprised to know that that was the only time in my pre-teenage year that my birthday was celebrated. That I will always cherish. I was only to learn nearly 20 years later that this uncle actually shared the same birthday as me. Since then, I have made all effort to at least call and wish him a happy birthday too.

When I was around 10, someone close to me celebrated his 12th birthday. And there was a grand big party thrown for this person that was close to me. I guess I was just a little jealous, even now when I think back of it, I was definitely jealous. This person got so many gifts and games and toys and as boys go, boys don't share toys unless told too.

I guess in my mind I always had wished for a big birthday party in my pre-teen years but, oh well, somehow birthdays were never celebrated in my family. I remember my dad used to always say that people should mourn during their birthdays as it means they are now 1 year closer to death. Ironic that they decided to throw a big birthday party for the other one.

I like celebrations and since I started going to college and then on to university and then on to work, I have never gone to class or worked during my birthday. Even if the celebration is small or big, I always celebrate it. Even when I turned 40, and due to work circumstances, I was alone in Europe, I took a weekend off and celebrated it in London watching Les Miserables and a Jason Mraz concert.

But anyway, looking back at my pre-teenage boy years and having the wisdom that I have now, this is what I would do if I was a pre-teenage boy.

1. Celebrate every year on my birthday - if tantrum does not work with your parents or if you are poor, there are still ways to celebrate. So just celebrate, laugh, tell people it's your birthday so that they at least wish you.

2. I will not get a computer game nor play a computer game. I am currently not a big computer game fan although I did buy wifey a Wii recently but have not ever played it. When I was young, I was more into reading comics than playing the arcade games although I would indulge in a game of pong or space invaders every now and then. I am more into reading more and maybe playing more board games. Monopoly was among my favorites and remains among my favorites till this day.

3. As already mentioned above, I like to read, always have but my childhood days were about comics more than books. My favorite were Asterix, Tintin, Dandy, Beano and MAD. My real reading habit was inculcated by my English teacher Mrs Ooi from ages 13-15. But before 12, I did read Noddy and some of Enid Blyton's books.

4. I will join the scouts and take part in more social activities. I was a little bit of a nerd I guess. Had a normal childhood and played all the games but was just not in any social organizations.

5. I will take part in some sports. I am not into sports and I wish I was.

6. I will help out my mom in the kitchen more, helping to clear up and clean up a little.

7. I would want to get a pet, preferable a dog. Having a dog in the past 2 years has changed my life and I can imagine how much fun it would have been to have a dog when I was young and we had big yards.

8. I would learn how to swim. Trying to learn how to swim as an adult has been difficult and I wished I had learned while I was a lot younger and less fearful.

9. I would take up a martial arts. Never did that either and wish I had taken up karate or tai kwan do or something. Again, somehow we were never encouraged to do this by our parents, I don't really know or remember why.

10. I would have been less angry. When I was young, I had a reputation as a very angry young boy. You would see many pictures of mine with an angry face that would kill. I now know why I was angry when I was young ... and while there may be very valid reasons to be angry, I just wished I was less angry when I was young.

I am sure many of you, male or female would maybe do things differently. I have no major regrets of my childhood. Furthermore, I cannot change the past. So, I am what I am and I am happy just being that.

Take care and be well.