Online Parent

This morning two of my kids wanted to go on the computer before they left for school. Now we do have a rule that the computer doesn’t go on before school. But Sam and Kieren came to me with tidy rooms, their chores had been done, they were all ready for school with lunches packed. Everything had been done. Then they came to me and gave me a big cuddle and said:

“Please mum can we have a turn before school? We know you can say no but look at everything we have done”. I thought about my rule and then looked at everything my boys had done to impress me. I wanted to appreciate the things my kids had done so I decided to make an exception to my rule. I said to them, “If you guys can come up with a good plan so that you can both have a turn and share the computer I will say yes to your request”.

Now why would I tell them to figure it out for themselves? This is empowering them to make their own decisions and actually helping to prepare them for adult life. They will need to have negotiating skills in their adult life, and they were actually proving to me by this request that they were learning this ability all by themselves.

The end result was that the kids were still out the door to school by 8am. So, what do you think may happen if the kids came back another day and asked for the same privilege? They have proven to be faithful once so I reckon I might even give them another try if they ask for it another day. We shall see.

Now here’s the thing: kids must learn that the quality of their life will be in direct proportion to the amount of effort they put in. This is why I was quick to reward my kids today. Kids need to be rewarded in some small way when you see them doing the right thing. It might be just a compliment however we need to notice the great things our kids do. When we remember this, our kids will be very well equipped for adulthood and they will thank us later in life.