Being an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) has its benefits and disadvantages. Parents envision a good future for their children and working overseas can help them make this dream come true. However, woking miles away from their families also has its downsides. Here are some of them.
1. Indifference
A classic example of how children, especially those at a very young age, react when their OFW mom or dad arrives in the Philippines. This is very common among those who have never seen their parents for a long period. When they meet them for the first time in a long while, their initial reaction would be to maintain their distance and be aloof.
2. Turns to rebellion
Many of us have seen this familiar scenario: an OFW parent returns home to find that his kids have adopted a way of life different from what they have envisioned. Some OFWs even recount finding out that their kids have become addicted to various vices, some of them even becoming pregnant at a young age.
A classic example is the movie Anak starring Vilma Santos, playing the role of OFW mom Josie, and Claudine Barretto, playing Josie’s daughter Carla. The movie highlights the struggles of reconnecting with children after many years of being apart from them.
3. Mama’s boy and daddy’s girl no more
Many OFWs, before leaving the country, keep a close bond with their children. Unfortunately, the time they spend working overseas leaves a dent on their relationship with their children.
4. Self-pity and jealousy
Choosing to become an OFW means choosing to be absent in important milestones of their children particularly graduation. Thus, their children inevitably feel jealous and fall into self-pity, comparing themselves to their classmates who have their parents to snap their photos while they receive their diploma and medals.
OFW parents must remember that all of these can be fixed through time. Parents need to reconnect with their children and give them time to adjust. Moreover, this is not the case of all OFW children. Some are able to understand their parents’ choice of working overseas.
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