This is an old post but I though I would share my knowledge as I have faced this same issue. Depending on the actions you are taking in the events of the main form will cause the order of events to "reorder" or skip to the "onCurrent" event. Which if you have a tab control on your form none of the "initialization events" will occur. I have several forms in which contain a tab control, on the tab I have a blank form that has 1 line of code in the "GotFocus" event. In order for this event to fire and be unrestricted to the actions I can take in the main form's events. I use 1 line of code at the end of the main forms events.
In the main form the preferred method is to use the Open event. If in the open event you are calling out a field to set a value the Load event will not fire and it will skip all other events moving to the OnCurrent event. Most actions can be take in the Open event. So after the Open event has done what it needs to and just before the exit sub put this:
"Me.NameOfTabControl.Pages.Item("Name Of First Tab").SetFocus"
For example mine is this:
"Me.tabNotes.Pages.Item("Notes").SetFocus".
By doing this it will bring forward all of the underline forms in the tab controls, before they have an opportunity to be skipped by any action of the main form event actions.
Now in the blank form you set up on one of the tab controls go to it's event properties and use the "GotFocus" event put this line of code:
"DoCmd.BrowseTo acForm, "Name Of Form You Want Displayed", "", "", "", acFormEdit"
For example mine is this:
"DoCmd.BrowseTo acForm, "subfrm_Refund_List_Tab", "", "", "", acFormEdit"
In the main form depending on the choice you made to retrieve your record of the underline subfrm depends on if you need to add the values in the linked parent properties of the tab control. From a best practice and easy of management find a way not to use this feature. Get your available recordset of the underline form through other means. Myself I have SQL DB as a back end and get my recordsets via ADODB.
SideNote: if you are using Tabs in your main forms understanding the BrowseTo function is a worth while investment to understand. I have an Access DB with over 300 forms and all forms are opened from with in one form using a navigation window and the BrowseTo function. Keeps it clean and not overly excessive with popup's. This also allows for an option to stop using the Access interface and just complete your task via the form window.
Have Fun, let me know if you have any questions or would like to add any valuable input.
JB