Monday, May 21, 2012

What Children Actually Want

Today, mothers are the busiest lot. Especially working mothers. In Singapore, kiasu parenting is real. My colleagues are considered mild I think. Their children go to piano AND violin classes, but because the children themselves are interested to learn. So far I have not met anyone who push their kids to enrichment classes. But Singaporean parents want their kids to learn and master at least one additional skill, be it music or art or sports. Fair enough.

While we work tirelessly to strive to be a better mother everyday, we forgot to stop and ask our kids how they are. It's something so simple yet easily forgettable. And then I came across this article by Erin Kurt who is a teacher. On every Mother's Day, she would ask her students things their mothers or guardians did to make them feel loved and happy. This assignment of 16 years drew the same conclusions. And these made me smile and tear up a bit because I am not doing these with Daniel as frequently as I used to since Darren came along, and I feel bad. This article just revived my mummy spirit! Here it is:

The Top Ten Things Kids Really Want Their Parents To Do With Them

1. Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
2. Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
3. Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
4. Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
5. At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
6. At night talk to me about anything; love, school, family etc.
7. Let me play outside a lot.
8. Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9. Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
10. Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.

Do you feel your heart tingling like mine right now?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, agreed with Erin Kurt wrote & understood what happenned to the elder child when a family 2nd child join in. I used to give my elder son a lots of time/attention, but I felt I do not have enough time for him nowadays. The younger one which is 3years old had taken away too much time. Parents need to manage it carefully in order meet both ends.

Ally said...

True, it is a challenge sometimes to give equal and adequate attention to each child in the various stages of their development.