Thursday, October 10, 2013

Is that a TRICK question???

Can your child be both intelligent academically and smart extracurricularly? Both well mannered and sociable? Domesticated yet fashionable? Confident and still modest; God fearing even?

My answer? YES!

I believe a child can be trained and guided to have elements of ALL these in his/her character. I believe in the concept of a well rounded child. I think it is possible to achieve this with commitment and hard work put in by a number of entities including the child, parents, school/teachers, tutors/instructors, and quite honestly, the entire community which surrounds the child.


I have 2 children, Super 4+ and Active 1+, and my last on the way (;-)), and this is what I want for every single one of them. In these my few years of parenting, I have spent time sharing ideas with other parents (mostly moms); exchanging school rating opinions, coach and tutor details, even study material information which I have found useful over time. This stage is now a bigger platform for this sharing to continue on another level. 

Fellow moms... and dads, we are in this together! Can you pledge your commitment to this conversation? As for me, I give my solemn pledge and I would like to believe that you are right here with me.

Welcome aboard!

Mrs Deli...

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Welcome :)

Anonymous said...

Hello, nice 1! Will stick around and see...

The Loc’d One said...

I agree Mrs Deli....

Conrad said...

You are absolutely on track, Mrs Deli. Nigeria certainly needs moms like you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Mrs. Deli.

I have burning issues around this, already, one of which is my 9+ getting kicked out of karate class yesterday for being a distraction to the other children, including his brother as he tried to be "Mr. Funny Man". He had been warned severally :(
"boys will be boys" just does not always cut it with me...

Mrs Deli said...

Aww, that must have been upsetting for you. How did he feel though? I honestly think that children should know that there will be consequences for unacceptable behavior. I bet he'll keep his charm for after hours next time. Oh and children must also begin to understand the sacrifices we make for them to get these things so that they don't take them for granted.

Mrs Deli said...

May I also ask how you dealt with it at home?

Anonymous said...

First, I felt really angry with him, then I questioned the audacity of the Sensei to expel a child from his class, then again, I put myself in his shoes and decided to let it all go. Thankfully, the class runs concurrently with tag rugby, which he will now face squarely and hopefully will not get thrown out of... I guess, if you're "kicked" out of karate, for rugby, it will be "thrown" out.
He seemed to have taken it well until I hugged him that it was going to be alright, then I saw tears roll down his face.
I asked him if he learnt his lesson, he said "yes".
We have tried to explain that for every bad behaviour, there is a consequence, but I don't think it sinks in sometimes. I'm really hoping this would be a wake up call for him. We still can't believe it...

Anonymous said...

To answer your question:

The report came about 3 weeks ago and he had been grounded since then. No games, no TV! Just read, sleep, go to school, etc, while we awaited Sensei's decision to either keep in on or kick him out.
His dad also assigned him to me as PA during the time, so he ran more errands than usual. He's learnt a lesson or two, I trust.

Mrs Deli said...

Ok, now I see why you must have been upset with the sensai... after all you had adequately disciplined him yourself (good job by the way; not many parents follow through punishment like this these days). I only wish he was suspended for 1 or 2 classes and allowed back in to see if he had learnt his lesson rather than such finality. (lol@ kicked out for karate and thrown out for rugby) Sensai may have found that he would have made a more positive change in him by a suspension and not an expulsion. I think that expulsion from any institution should be the absolutely last option just because it give a vibe of hopelessness and some children if not properly guided and counseled may even take a worse turn... "after all they think i'm that bad already!" you may not be out of line to have a conversation with sensai, even if not for your child but for others in the future. What say you?

Anonymous said...

Good job Mrs Delhi. @the discussion chain, I believe the reason for punishment is to correct bad behavior, and @ d end of the day get a msg across to the child. So the punishment should equal the degree of 'offence'. For me, expulsion from a class is a little overboard in this case. I think the actions taken by mom and dad were in line,and I hope he's called back soon so that this doesn't tell his self image in any way.

Anonymous said...

*tell on his self image in any way

Mr. Humpty said...

Interesting stuff!