Attention parents! You are under surveillance!

Got baffled by the title?? But yes, this is a fact. Your kids are watching you day and night. You may call your child ten times,  your kid may not respond and may seem engrossed in something. But you start talking with your husband or with your friend and you will find that their antenna is always directed towards you. If you are talking about the kids then they will not miss even a single word.

You try to sit comfortably and discuss something with your husband and I am ready to bet if your kid doesn't come running towards you and occupy space between you and your husband. 

Once my kid was spending his vacation with his grandparents. After couple of days I received a call from my mother in law (MIL) asking whether we had a fight regarding who should clean the kitchen platform in the night. I was more embarrassed than surprised by this question. She narrated the afternoon's incident. That day the kids were playing "Mummy Daddy" game. My kid was acting as the Daddy and our neighbour's daughter was acting as the Mummy. During this role play the Daddy asked Mummy to clean the kitchen platform and the Mummy readily agreed. Now the little Daddy gave instructions to the Mummy, "Hey how come you readily agreed to clean kitchen platform?? You should say that it's your turn to do it today and fight" My wizened MIL had guessed what must have happened and had called me. Plus I got a free advice that we should not fight in front of the kiddo. All I remember is my kid was engrossed in watching cartoons in other room when we were fighting. I am sure even you would have experienced similar thing.

I remember when I was a kid my mother used to have her college in the early morning (she was a teacher). She used to finish cooking and other chores before her college. She used to be in great hurry. If we sisters wouldn't follow discipline she used to scold us. She used to get delayed. But I used to feel what's there to scold us for such a small thing. When I would grow up I wouldn't lose my temper by such a small thing. But alas! That's not the case. When placed in similar circumstances unknowingly my reactions are exactly same as my mother and not what I always envisaged.

In my office it was normal for people to distribute chocolates on their birthdays. All the kids love chocolates. So did my kiddo. So used to bring those chocolates home and share with my kiddo. After few days I realised whenver kids used to distribute chocolates in his school he started bringing them home. He used open then only after I came home. Or when he used to fall sick I used to check his temperature after every 2-3 hours. Now when I fall sick he does the same without anyone telling him anything!

Jokes apart, but parents we are seriously being watched 24*7. Our kids are going to immitate us in similar circumstances. Our advices may not work. Actions speak louder than words.  Kids learn more by watching our behavior than what we tell them. We are the role model to our kids. I would like to conclude by saying be the man you want your child to become!

Making kids understand value of money! - Part 3

In earlier blog we read about how my son demanded a Nerf gun and I suggested him to buy it with his hard earn money. He had accepted the challenge, started ironing clothes and was waiting for his first pay.

In his first month he had managed to iron 55 clothes and he had earned Rs 330. He wanted to buy a toy for himself. We went to our usual toy shop. He immediately checked the price of Nerf gun. Its price range was from Rs 800 to Rs 20000. He was little disappointed. Then he started checking some other fancy toys. Alas!! They were very costly.

Finally he told the shopkeeper that his budget was Rs 330 and asked what could be purchased with this amount. The shop keeper started showing some card games, board games etc. When he made his first selection the total cost of the merchandise was Rs 336. He didn't have sufficient money. I offered to give him extra Rs 6. But he refused. I offered him advance of Rs 6 and asked him to adjust it in next billing cycle. He rejected this proposal either. Finally he selected 2 items - Fletter cards and fidget spinner. This fitted well in his budget. He was very happy with his shopping. He was in euphoria. 

He started ironing his clothes with more gusto in the next month. In the second month his tally was around Rs 650- 700. Still the money was not sufficient to buy Nerf gun. He was little disheartened and asked me way forward. I advised him to save his money and spend it at a later date. It was very difficult for him to exercise control. But the attraction for Nerf gun proved to be stronger. Finally after 3 months of ironing he became proud owner of his Nerf gun!!

Few learnings from this exercise:

1. One has to really put in lot of efforts to earn even a small amount of money.

2. If you want to make big expenditure then you need to plan and save the money.

3. The kid has learnt one essential life skill which will never go waste.

Lastly I would quote 2 incidents which assured me the learning has indeed been etched into my son's mind:

1. We have been visiting same toy shop in nearby locality for years. One day the owner specifically asked me, "Madam, what have you done? Earlier your son used to look for all costly fancy toys. But these days he has suddenly started asking for cheaper and simple toys. He comes with some budget as well?? Are you paying him any procket money??"

2. My son and his grandfather had been to movie. During break his grandfather thought of buying him popcorn. Dadaji was mentally prepared to spend the extravagant cost of Rs 220 for tub. But when my son noticed this price he flatly refused to buy any snacks as they were not worth the money.

What else one mother could want!!

For reading my other blogs please visit  https://kinfolkclub.com or https://motherlab.blogspot.com