Everyday, I have to embrace a myriad of issues pertaining to my 3 girls, aged almost 5 years old, 8 years old and an almost 10 years old tween. Everyday I grapple with old problems and on some days, I get ‘interesting’ issues which really stir my mind on how to deal with them effectively so as not to aggravate them further. Oh, how I wish that I could conveniently remove the ‘gr’ from the grapple and just gobble down the issue as if it were an apple!
Just yesterday, I had to face these minor issues related to my kids. I have to always bear in mind that if these minor issues are not nipped at the bud, they could accelerate into problems that can get out of control in time to come.
1) When I picked Cass up from pre-school, her teacher told me that Cass has been writing her letters in the wrong order. For eg. for the letter ‘b’– Cass has been writing the stroke from bottom up instead of from up to bottom. The teacher asked me to find out why Cass is writing this way, i.e. could she think that it is fun to go against the grain?? Or is this a sign of a learning issue? Back home, I asked Cass to write the letters of the alphabet and her strokes were mostly correct. So I could only guess that this rascal was trying to be funny by going against the grain. Well, I admit that even up to now, at times I still write my letters in the wrong order of stroke, just to beat boredom @J@ Sign of learning issues for me too??
2) After Aunty J, the van driver had dropped off Alycia and Sherilyn at our condo, she called me on my mobile phone to lodge yet another complain on this rascal! She told me that Sherilyn has been trying to be a dare devil by opening the door of the van even before the van comes to a complete halt, despite warnings from Aunty J not to do it! When Alycia heard our conversation, she then remembered that yesterday, her dare devil sister had also sat at the forefront seat of the van, next to Aunty J WITHOUT belting up! Imagine the gravity of the consequences in the event the van collides with another vehicle!! I tried to draw up an exaggerated story of a horrified and gruesome accident in the mind of this rascal to scare this audacious brat and I hope that she has taken heed and will not repeat this stunt again.
3) Alycia had yet another meltdown yesterday when I told her to stop burying her face in story books. Lately, Alycia has a habit of burying her face in storybooks and her eyes will be glued to the book even when she is walking (both at home and outside which can be hazardous), at meal times, in the car, preparing her bed at night and and she can sit at the throne for over an hour, poring into her storybook.  I have also caught her peeping at her storybooks when her Mandarin tuition class was on-going. Her exam will begin on Monday next week and each time I give her workbooks to do or try to start revising with her, she would give me a sigh, followed with an eyes-rolling pissed off look and at times, get into a fits of rage and would often end up teary eyed, with a long, sulky face, books thrown on tables, door slammed and she venting out her anger on her sisters by hitting them. Could this be that her hormones are wracking havoc in this tween of mine? Or is she doing all these in the name of establishing her own identity? To begin with, this girl can be quite a bull-head since her Terrible Twos days. In fact, of the 3 girls, I’ve had the hardest time dealing with Alycia when she was in her Terrible Twos. She may be an introvert and not very sociable, she may look demure but looks are really deceiving. She can be downright stubborn.
I wonder what juicy issues await me when my 3 girls are back from school today!
Parenting is such a challenge. Does it ever get any better?
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Parenting is tough. Life isn’t ideal. We just have to cope with you everyday with a positive mind and strong heart.
I’m a mother of one and so far it is tolerable. I don’t think I can handle 3 kids. Really salute you for all you’ve done.
It’s scary to think that Sherilyn did not buckle up in the van but I guess after being reprimanded she’ll listen up. You might want to show her some YouTube videos of the consequences of not buckling up. It’s a bit gorry but try choosing the one least gorry. It might ‘scare’ her a bit and she’ll want to buckle up next time.
being a mom is always not easy.
Everyday is a challenge, I have only one and you have three! Really salute you. As what Merryn has suggested, showing them the consequences of not doing stuff properly via channels that might work on them. In my boy’s case, I tell moral stories thru’ personal encounters and it works most of the time.
Thank you for sharing your story. In my opinion, Alycia is starting to hit the rebellious stage since she is at her pre-teen stage (it’s a bit early though). This is normal and you don’t have to worry. This is the stage where they are most sensitive so be aware of their needs, continue to guide them, to set limits, and demand for the respect that she should be giving you.
Part and parcel of growing up and dun worry too much yeah. Sounds like mischief for me 😛
Yup! Agree with you. Everyday is a challenge, a different challenge each day keeps us from going dull right?