Vietnamese Teachers' Day November 20 is also an occasion to show gratitude to parents, the first teachers.

Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20, honors those who teach, but it is also an occasion for each of us to be quiet and think about our parents. Because before we knew how to bow to our teachers on the podium, we bowed our heads in our mother's womb, listening to the lullaby, listening to the warmth of love nurturing our hearts.

Parents are the greatest teachers that nature has given us.

Before we even existed, when we were just a seed of life sleeping in the sacred waves of the universe, our parents began to teach us. They taught us by walking lightly, so that each step would not disturb the peace in our mother’s womb; they taught us with kind words and beautiful thoughts, because the ancients believed that children born would carry the temperament of the words their parents had said; they taught us by doing good deeds. When our mother smiled at the blooming flowers, when our father sat silently watching the sunset, it was the time when they were cultivating in us the seeds of kindness in our early life.

Parents present on the first day of first grade

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

When we cried out at birth – the opening sound of the longest and most beautiful pilgrimage of a human life, our parents cried along with us, cried out of happiness, cried out knowing that from now on they have an additional noble responsibility: to protect a small creature. Happiness is seeing our child, but worry follows us like a shadow: fear of our child being cold, fear of our child being hungry, fear of our child being startled, fear of everything that every parent has experienced. Our child is carefree, only knowing how to cry and sleep, while our parents stay awake, protecting our every breath.

As time passed, each of my faltering steps bore the imprint of my father’s guiding hand. Each step I took was a time when my father bent down, supported me, and kept me balanced in the vastness of the world. And on the simple hammock, my mother’s lullaby silently followed me throughout my life – a lullaby not only to put me to sleep, but also to lull my mind, to lull into my heart lessons about kindness, tolerance, and human destiny.

Children grow up, mature, and have their own homes. You think that your parents have fulfilled their duty, but that is not the case. A parent’s love does not end when a child grows up; it just becomes quieter and deeper, like a river at its gentlest point. Parents continue to care for their children, and then for their grandchildren. That love is like a warm fire – the more you share it, the more it lasts.

Parents wait for their children in front of the school gate during heavy rain in June 2025

Photo: Nhat Thinh

Then the stormy days of life come, knocking you down, making you waver, confused between choices and mistakes. But when everyone turns their backs, parents are always the ones who open their arms to welcome you, shield you from the wind, shield you from the rain, wrap you in their peaceful arms. As long as you return, even if you are injured, have flaws, parents will still hold you tight like when you were a newborn. That is the kind of love that no conditions can bind, no sin is big enough to separate.

When children make mistakes, parents do not scold them harshly. Because deep down, parents think it is their fault for not raising their children properly. It is this self-blame that creates a tolerance that we can never fully repay in our lifetime.

Human life is finite. From the moment we cry until we close our last eyes, parents have only one wish: for their children to be safe. Parents endure all the pain, hardship, and loss, just so that their children can sit peacefully in the wind. And when the last moment of their lives comes, parents still carry that love, carry their children's image to the other shore without any complaints.

The ancients taught that: "Parents' grace is as deep as the sea, higher than the sky." We carry this body, we carry a debt, a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. And November 20 - the day to show gratitude to those who guide us - is the time for us to look back at the greatest teachers that nature has given us: father and mother.

In the classroom of life, parents are the most patient teachers.

In the storms of life, parents are the most silent shelter.

In the journey of life, parents are the longest companions.

They teach us with their hearts, with nameless sacrifices, with every meal, every piece of clothing, every seemingly small advice that supports our entire inner journey.

Rain or shine, parents always silently and patiently wait for their children in front of the school gate every exam season.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

Teachers teach students to be grateful to their parents.

And when we stand before our students, giving them lessons about character, about life, about love, we are following the path that our parents have opened. We become good teachers because we have been taught by the unconditional love of our parents. Every encouraging handshake, every gentle word of guidance to our students… all have the shadow of our parents in them.

Deep down, like parents, every teacher wants his students to become good people. The only difference is: teachers give knowledge, parents give their whole heart.

The greatest happiness of parents is not that their children become famous, but that their children know how to love others. The greatest happiness of a teacher is not that students get high scores, but that students know how to live a decent life. Therefore, parents are the first teachers, and teachers are always the extended shadow of parents.

On November 20, among the wishes for teachers, among the colorful bouquets of flowers, let us take a moment to pay our respects to our first teacher. From the bottom of our hearts, we remind ourselves that: even if we spend our entire lives, we will never be able to repay their deep gratitude. We only hope to live a kind and virtuous life, so as not to betray the boundless love that our parents have taught us since we were still young.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ngay-nha-giao-viet-nam-2011-cung-la-dip-tri-an-cha-me-nguoi-thay-dau-tien-185251118164805802.htm