Parenting stuffs from the imperfect perfect parent

Fuyoh, this is the amount of homework a five, yet to be six years old boy have to do. He is going to sekolah kebangsaan next year so this is considered very little.

My boy is reading Bahasa Malaysia like a mat salleh. Lor rwi ini bear sah. Lor rwi ini bah wah bah njiak bah rang.

Anyway, there are some parenting stuffs that we imperfect perfect parents do. Some of what I can think of :

1) Helping the kid to write those repetitive alphabets. When the poor kid is dozing off and there are pages to complete, perfect imperfect parents cheat by using the left hand (if he/she is a right hander) to complete the homework.

2) Use the left hand to colour pages and pages of homework. (it is the universal rule that boys hate colouring and they just don’t geddit why teachers ask them to colour)

3) Accidentally left a child in the elevator. It never happen to us until last Friday. So, overall, it is considered not bad lah. Four kids and we only commit this blunder once. We were in KDU to pick up the eldest son. We took him to the canteen to buy icecream and then, went up to find #1 who was with the PPPTN officers. #1 son hasn’t finish his thing, so we went down the lift. There are only four storeys in KDU and at that time, there was no college student around. In the lift, my boy asked hubby to help him with the melting icecream. So, hubby was busy meddling with the wrapper. I got out. He got out. And the door of the lift closed. With a kid inside that says, “OI, I am still inside.” Bam!!! The door was closed. I pressed the lift button on the outside but the door didn’t open. So, hubby ran up to the first floor. The lift came down again. Two guilty parents but one cool son. He told us, “Easy only mah, I pressed G again so I come back to you. So easy nia.”

So, parents, remember to tell your kid that he is to stay at the same spot, in the lift and never get out. Younger children or those not used to lifts may not know how to press the numbers. Well, at least I didn’t accidentally left a kid at the last LRT station. Always bring up this matter and make sure they know that you will come back for them.

4) Then, there was this one time when #3 strayed off from us in the Sunshine Square supermarket in Bayan Baru. I think he was about 2-3 years old, hardly able to talk yet. It is a long story how he got missing. When we found him, he was coolly sitting at the information counter. Too blur to know that he was lost and found again. Sigh…

And to equip your child, always remind them that they are not to walk any further if they cannot find you. Just stay put in one place. I have met many kids who ran around fearfully and tearfully and it makes it harder for the parents to find them. Keep drilling into them on and off that should they get lost, just stay put, don’t run, mommy will come back. And never scare your children unnecessary with ‘police catch or people will kidnap you’ when they are naughty in public places because that will make them terrify.

Also, drill into those kids who like to play hide and seek with you amongst the cloths racks that if you call them, they are to answer immediately or else. I know a few of my kids did that all the time. Hiding in some clothes, playing with the brothers. When I call, they must answer or get a smack.

Hhmm….come to think of it, I didn’t do too bad. One of my nephew got separated from my sister in Disneyland, USA because he was following the wrong ‘jeans’. (kid’s vision of following the parents) Another one went out of one shopping complex in Bukit Bintang while the parents were searching in another one. One more niece got separated in the supermarket and was sitting down, about to burst into tears.

If you are in overseas or out of town, remember to put a hotel card into the kid’s pocket and tell the bigger ones which hotel you are staying. You never know…..But then, I have single-handedly, with the help of my older sons took all four kids, including one who was only 8 mths around Hongkong. We travelled on MRT and even went to the corner of the island to the War Museum in Hongkong.

It is all part and package of parenting. Those scary bumps which will become talk of the family for a long time. So long as we set some basic rules and basic ‘what to do if…’ drills into the kids, we will be fine.