Shengliver’s Note: When it comes to practising what one preaches, kids often surpass their parents.

In the National Day holidays, I had such a great time gaming on the phone that I often lost track of time. One evening, I was engrossed in online battles with my playmates when my cousin messaged me on the QQ, asking what had happened to my mother. Startled, I checked the hour. It was already 7 pm. I asked my cousin what she meant, but she went offline.

“Why hasn’t Mum come back?” I wondered aloud. “Something must have happened.”

About 10 minutes later, Father called in, saying, “Your mother and I have something to see to right now. Go and grab a bite from the pantry if you are hungry.” I perceived urgency in his tone. Before I could ask him any question, though, Dad hung up. I became nervous. I could not figure out what had gone wrong.

After a while, my cousin came back online. She disclosed that my mother had got hurt by a car on the road. Her parents, my uncle and aunt, had gone to the hospital to help my father out. I was shocked. Because my cousin would not reveal which hospital they were in, I had no choice but to stay put and wait at home.

About 9 pm my parents came back at last. It seemed that my mother was just doing OK. It had been a minor accident, obviously. Curious, I could not help but ask Mother about it.

Mother said, upon my inquiry, that she had not wanted to cross the street by taking the overpass because climbing the steps would be tiring for her. To save energy, she had taken a shortcut by walking directly across the street under the overpass. Unluckily, a car bumped into her in the process.

I could not imagine why my mother should have resorted to such an ill-judged tactic to save energy. She often preaches to me the significance of road safety, stressing that it’s much safer to use an overpass and that jaywalking is bad practice on the road.

Hopefully, this experience, which was not life-threatening, has taught Mother a valuable lesson. She will remember it forever, I bet.