We were at the supermarket two days ago and while navigating through one of the lanes, we found a little boy standing in the middle of the pathway. Because it was a narrow lane, we had to ask the child to excuse us but he probably didn’t hear or understand us. So I gently tapped on his shoulder and asked him again. As I was doing that, a woman, most likely the mother, grabbed his arm and then shoved him to the side while reprimanding that he had stood in our way.
It wasn’t like she created a scene but her actions got me thinking how such knee-jerk reactions to tell our kids off first in similar situations are common by most parent’s standards. It’s actually a normal case of trying to exercise civilness because we don’t want to cause others inconvenience, especially publicly, even if it’s due to our kids’ ignorance.
And this brought my memory back to an incident which I had witnessed many years ago before I had a child. Of how a father had patiently told his daughter to be more careful even though she has dropped a full cup of drink plus a bag of popcorns he just bought. That stuck in my memory because I was so impressed with his patience and how he dealt with it.
I admit I am currently like the mother of the little boy, letting my feelings get the better over my child’s mental well-being sometimes. After the little encounter at the supermarket, I’m now reminding myself that I really should strive to be more like the father of the girl, putting my child’s feelings ahead of mine, whether publicly or privately.
Practice patience and not show anger.
I hear yer..! my mom was like that.. so i am very cautious of how i behaved in front of chloe. My philosophy of life with chloe is.. as long as she is not hurt.. nothing else is important.. when accidents happen.
Comment by Mama BoK — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 @ 8:17 am
Thank you for reminding.. That’s something I want to practice too, but sometimes in the heat of the moment, forgot.
Comment by zara's mama — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 @ 10:08 am
Thanks for sharing the story of the father…i ought to learn from him too…many a time, i let my anger took over me…
Comment by Eileen — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 @ 4:13 pm
I hear ya’. It isnt always easy to have patience 100% of the time. But the great thing is what we can teach children is humility, kindness, forgiveness as we as them to forgive us if we speak out of anger.
Comment by Shannon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 @ 8:49 pm
Practice patience and not show anger.
That’s what I hv always been telling myself but lately memory seem fail again…
Thanks for reminding
Comment by wtpg — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 @ 10:35 am
i am guilty sometimes, too, of over-reacting in public places especially with my little one. she knows how to manipulate and knows exactly when to use it. but, we get along pretty well most of the times.
Comment by Belle — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 @ 4:17 am