Moms and Dads
6 Parenting Lessons from Twenty-Five Twenty-One
Slice-of-life and Sports K-Drama Twenty-Five Twenty-One offers a lot of parenting lessons that we can learn from.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One, starring Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk, may be a K-Drama about fencing but there’s a lot to learn about parenting. The K-Drama tackles how several South Korean high school students tackle growing pains while also trying to understand their parents. Baek Yi-jin (played by Nam Joo-hyuk) deals with taking on his father’s responsibilities while Na Hee-do (played by Kim Tae-ri) deals with her mother, Shin Jae-kyung’s, visible lack of support and affection, showing there’s a lot to learn from this K-Drama.
1. If we’re struggling, don’t try to hide it and say it’s okay.
Ko Yoo-rim (played by Bona) worked hard to become a gold medalist fencer and the darling of Korean fencing in order to help her parents who are struggling to make ends meet. She often worries about money but her mother tries to tell her not to. Unfortunately, this backfires as Ko Yoo-rim pushes herself to the limit to the point she feels threatened by Na Hee-do’s climb into the fencing world which results in bullying from media among other things.
2. Criticism doesn’t always make your kids better.
Na Hee-do deals with Shin Jae-kyung’s visible lack of support on a daily basis, even from Twenty-Five Twenty-One episode 1. From the first episode, we can see that the two have an extremely strained relationship that her mother even thinks that she can’t be a good fencer. However, there’s a clear miscommunication as Na Hee-do’s love for fencing comes from her late father who constantly encouraged her to become a good fencer. It’s here that we can see that her mother’s and even her coach’s comments on how she was awful at fencing destroyed her. That is until Coach Yang Chan-mi who ironically was once friends with Na Hee-do’s mother took her under her wing.
3. Choosing work over kids never works out.
The constant conflict between Na Hee-do and Shin Jae-kyung in Twenty-Five Twenty-One also sprouts from her mother’s work. As the main anchor of a TV station, she needs to keep things impartial. However, the lack of support from her even behind the scene makes Na Hee-do even more distant from her. When the media accused Na Hee-do of bribing the coach, Shin Jae-kyung reports exactly that which drives her daughter farther away.
4. Always make sure your kids know that you love them.
Baek Yi-jin’s parents had a sham divorce to keep creditors from harassing him and his brother. Despite splitting off in different directions, Baek Yi-jin stays strong to keep his father’s location a secret. In one episode of Twenty-Five Twenty-One, his father even returns and embraces him, telling him he’s mighty proud that Baek Yi-jin’s still trying and staying strong. Our kids may find it weird but deep down, they appreciate hearing that we still love them, especially during hard times.
5. You can be a better parent than your own.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One’s story may be told from the viewpoint of Na Hee-do at age 18, it sometimes goes back to Kim Min-chae, Na Hee-do’s daughter. From there, we can see that Na Hee-do’s trying to be a better mother to Kim Min-chae, especially after she quits ballet. At first, the relationship comes off rocky but, after she reads her mother’s diary, the two get closer and Na Hee-do does her best to be a better mother than her own.
6. A mother’s love knows no bounds
After the scandal caused by Ko Yoo-rim’s questioning the referee’s call, Na Hee-do found herself alone to cope with the mess. However, Ko Yoo-rim’s mother embraced her and let her know that she wasn’t alone. It surprised Ko Yoo-Rim and even Na Hee-do how she was able to do so. Sometimes, being a mother isn’t limited to if your child is the victor or not. It goes as far as knowing that there are just some people who do need their mom.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a cute K-drama that tackles all sorts of things!
From facing one’s past to pushing forward to one’s goals, Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a K-Drama that focuses on the small things that we often take for granted. Although it’s not the typical K-Drama where there’s immediate chemistry, it shows that most things are often innocent and it takes a lot of strength to keep it. The series isn’t finished yet but they do upload new episodes every week on Netflix.
Enjoyed Twenty-Five Twenty-One? Here are more K-Dramas to watch!
5 Parenting Lessons From K-Dramas That Are All About Family
5 Parenting Lessons To Learn From The Squid Game
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