Todays Parents Now

Today two of my children asked me for a go on the computer before school. I was surprised as they know our rule is “no computer before school”. Nevertheless there they were, asking me for a turn. They had first made sure that their rooms were tidy and they had packed their school bags. Everything had been done. Then came the begging…

“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 I was doing two things here. First I was letting my kids to practice their negotiating skills and seeing if they could figure it out for themselves. Second, I was getting them to police one another so I didn’t have to. The last thing I wanted to do was to say to the kids, “you have to get off the computer and leave for school now”.

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.