There are many instances in the daily routine whereby a parent can seize the opportunity to teach his child. Today, I am sharing some stories which my friends shared with me about their motherhood and how they teach their child at every opportunity in their daily lives.

Case 1

A mother brought her 7-year-old girl for shopping. They had spent 3 hours walking around the mall looking for new clothes for upcoming Chinese New Year. Little girl got bored and she starts throwing tantrum. Mother gave in to her request of playing game on her mobile phone. They went into a shoe shop. The little girl was engrossed with her game, and she wants to find a place to sit down in order to focus on playing. And so she sat…. she sat down on the shelving of the shoe display and the whole thing collapsed. 😓 Bags and shoes from the top all dropped down as well. Little girl was unhurt and kept quiet. If you were in the mother’s shoe, how would you have reacted?

The mother’s first reaction was she took a quick look to see if her little girl was hurt. Seeing that she was unhurt, she commented: “baby, are you alright?” Girl nodded and remained embarrassed.

Mother continued “Do you realised how dangerous it was? The whole thing could have collapsed on you and you might end up injured. Do you know why this had happened?” Mother apologised to the store assistant as she speaks to her little girl.

“Mum, I’m sorry. I did not pay attention earlier” girl spoke softly.

“Well…I hope you learn from this incident. Could you help the store assistant aunty by picking up the things on the floor and tell her how sorry you were?” says the mother with a smile.

I thought it was pretty neat how the mother has handled the whole situation. Her child made a blunder (unintentionally) and her immediate reaction was to educate her child how to take responsibility and learn from it (instead of scolding her as immediate reaction). I certainly hope I will react the same way when I am in this similar situation in future.

Case 2

Your primary school kid has an art project. He hates doing arts and crafts. Do you:

 A) Get the materials for him, lay them out on the table, sit down and set datelines for him to complete and tell him he gets some nice chocolates upon completion

 B) Get someone (or yourself) to help do the art project

 C) Do nothing

If you choose A or B out of love to help him out, you are not giving him a chance to learn from being anxious and taking responsibility of his own work.

In our daily routine, there are many opportunities for children to learn and grow. Let them try and fail! Through mistakes, they will remember, be more competent and become someone who embraces challenges.

Let them own it

Have you ever grabbed a broom from a child because he was making too much of a mess cleaning up?

Children can do more than we think they can. We just need to give them opportunities to practice and try them out. I believe children can do dishes and clean a room without a reward. At least, based on my childhood experience, my mother definitely didn’t bribe me with any rewards! My brother and I grew up helping out with the household chores. Sharing housework can minimise stress in a family. 😉

Lots of encouragement keeps children interested in helping. If their initial efforts aren’t that great, you can also boost their chances of success by explaining the task again. Keep telling them they’re doing well and praise them for their EFFORTS not outcomes. This way, they’ll feel rewarded.

Featured image source: bostonglobe.com