Parents play so many roles in a child’s life.

But since May is the month of Mother’s Day, I’ll focus on my mum.

To me, my mum is my iron man (she irons my clothes), care bear (I hug her in return), ATM (former), best friend (forever) and a teacher (always).

Fast forward today, I’m increasingly taking on the teacher role as she (and my dad) rely on me more in the age of the internet.

Here’s why and how Chope becomes relevant (besides sponsoring this piece).

Life skill #2321 by mum for me: Chope seat

If I really have to recall who I learnt the fine art of chope-ing seats from, it was probably my mum.

First and foremost, nope, she did not teach me how to chope seats with a pack of tissue paper.

Instead, I was the ‘tissue paper’.

I’d wait comfortably while my parents would buy food for me because I was probably too young at that time.

Having observed the master from up close, I’d practise “chope-ing” with my peers in school.

“Eh you sit here first, I go buy food. What you want? I buy for you.”

Fast forward today, my parents are the ‘tissue paper’ because it’s my turn to serve them. #Confucianteachings

Life skill #10 by me for mum: Chope Deals

One important responsibility that I have for them is to teach them to be more tech-savvy.

To be completely honest, it is also to save myself from the constant naggings for being a phone addict (I blame Mothership).

My hypothesis is that she will nag at me because she feels excluded and does not understand why. I also feel bad for making her feel excluded.

To solve this, I volunteer my services as my mum’s social media manager tech teacher to help her with her social media accounts and introduce her to websites or apps that are useful to her.

And ChopeDeals is part of my lesson plan for her.

Getting to know ChopeDeals

I first got to know ChopeDeals through my very resourceful friend Grace who used it twice for our meetups.

The options listed can be really decent and wide-ranging with convenient locations despite my initial assumptions (What’s the catch? Terms and conditions apply?) about such discounts.

Not all deals are on 50 percent discount (you get a 10 percent minimally) but hey, at least you don’t need to pay the full sum.

Take Wild Honey, for example, you would have to reserve a seat in advance, or be prepared to wait in line if you want a table on a typical weekend.

You can chope seats aka making a reservation via Chope too on top of the discounts.

(Hmm or this could be the reason why I had to queue for Wild Honey the other time.)

All these with zero membership fees and you can also earn Chope’s loyalty points aka Chope Dollars. Sounds pretty good to me.

The discounts make ChopeDeals useful when I think about giving my mum a treat for occasions like Mother’s Day.

I can use the ‘got discounts ma’ card whenever she feels the place is a tad too polished and the food a bit too pricey.

Now I just need to find food that really appeals to her.

Teaching her how to ChopeDeals

ChopeDeals can be very useful to encourage my mum to try new dishes and restaurants.

I really feel now is the time for her to pamper herself more as my siblings and I are all grown up.

However, being extremely thrifty and used to hawker fare, my mum always finds dining in restaurants too lavish.

With ChopeDeals, she can choose what she wants to eat and it will be handy when it’s her turn to treat her clique of old friends over their usual quarterly gatherings.

Direct translation to the caption: New year eating hotpot with my sisters happily.

With over 600 dining spots and over 30 types of cuisines to choose from, I’m pretty sure she can find something she likes.

You can have a look at the full list here.

Helping mum become tech-savvy

I must admit, being her tech teacher can be a test of my patience sometimes as I’m a digital native and many things are second nature to me.

But it is important for her to learn how to use the Internet properly.

There are times we might have to repeat the same steps again. And again.

There are also times that I have to do the steps with her or browse through the sites like ChopeDeals together.

Somethings are eventually too cumbersome to pick up for her so I just help her with them and that’s okay.

Like finding Yanxi Palace episodes online so that she can watch it while ironing clothes.

Despite everything, I begin to appreciate such simple daily interactions more.

Such interactions are nothing elaborate or time-consuming and I enjoy spending quality time with her bonding over the wonders of tech.

I suspect she feels more empowered as she gets to pick up new skills and perhaps pass it on to her friends too.

Unlike gifts or treats, this might be more meaningful and enjoyable to her.

The writer of this sponsored article wants to specially thank the resourceful friend Grace for introducing ChopeDeals.