All parents have been given the sacred role of imparting values to their children. Kids are immature and in their growing-up years, it is really important to lay a strong foundation of integrity, honesty and responsibility in them. Then we’ll know that they will become good people who will do the right things in life.
Just this week, Joey was taught a lesson that we believe she’d remember for a long time. It was not like we planned to teach her anything that day. It just happened, and we decided that the situation was a good chance to teach her to be a person who honours her words.
It was a Monday and because it was hubby and my off day, we thought it would be nice to bring the kids out for some ice-cream at night after dinner. But because we would have to reach back home pretty later after the ice-cream, we told the kids that they have to take a nap in the afternoon. Baby Jayne took her usual nap while Joey was in school. And when Joey came back from school, she told me flatly that she didn’t want to nap at all. So I gave her an option to choose between napping and then ice-cream excursion at night, or she could choose not to nap and watch cartoons, and have no ice-cream at night. She decided to go with the latter.
But I made it very clear to her that once she’s decided on it, she would have to honour her word. And since Papa Isaiah already promised to bring Baby Jayne for ice-cream because she took her nap, he would have to honour his word as well and bring her out WITHOUT Joey.
When evening came, Joey begun to sulk. She saw how Baby Jayne was happily hopping around the house all dressed up, carrying her little bag, waiting for Papa Isaiah to bring her out for ice-cream. I have to say it was definitely not easy for Joey, because God knows she LOVES ice-cream. And knowing that her sister was going to have delicious ice-cream with hero daddy, while she would be stuck at home with mummy was definitely making it very difficult for her to bear. She tried persuading us to give her a chance and bring her just for this one time, but we stuck to our word. And I kept telling Joey that it was a decision she made and she had to stick to it no matter what. And so Papa Isaiah brought Baby Jayne out for ice-cream, while I read stories to Joey and let her sleep. She was feeling really, really miserable. As expected, when I asked her whether she would do the same in future, she told me (in a rather sad tone) that she’d made the wrong decision and would choose to nap in future so that she could get her ice-cream. She asked me why I didn’t want to give her a second chance, and I had to explain that I wanted to teach her to be a person who means what she says and be a person of her word. It was not an easy lesson, but it had to be taught.
Perhaps it would take more than 1 experience to drill this concept into her, but at least it’s work-in-progress. Isn’t this like how God would teach us and mould us to become better people? He lets us go through experiences and situations that would make us better each time we go through it. He would bring us through one experience after another, until we’ve learnt what He wants to teach us. =)
Oh God, teach us to become better parents, who can impart and instil important values into the lives of these little ones.
