(this is written by my wife)

My little son has this habit of calling “papa come” or “mama come” from his bed the first thing he wakes up in the morning. And dutifully I will go into the bedroom to check what he wants. It goes without saying that I am frustrated at being at his beck and call but alas I always concede to avoid the whining and crying that follows when his demands are being ignored.

This morning while I was having my breakfast the familiar “mama come” broke the peaceful silence. I decided not to respond. Hearing no response, he continued his tirade of “mama come.. mama come.. MAMA COME!!!…”

And so, I gave in yet again.

Dutifully I went into the room and was told to
(i) lie down; and
(ii) pat him

URGGG!!! I summon whatever patience and good humor in me and told him as a matter of fact that I was having my breakfast and that I would come back later.

As expected, he said “NO!”.

Normally I would give in at this stage and do as he tells me. Somehow this time I decided to try again and told him I will come back after my breakfast.

To my surprise, as I prepared to leave the room (which was just an act actually) there was no protest (I was actually prepared to stay had he protested) but he actually rolled over to stare into the ceiling and do his own thing.

I continued with my breakfast and pondered over what happened.

Perhaps what our children need is a little bit more perseverance from us.

We should stop treating them like kings! Too often we give in to their demands too soon. And in so doing we rob them of the opportunity to learn to wait, to understand that others have needs and to respect that.

Needless to say when I went back to the room I showered him with lots of praises for being able to wait for others… and he was most happy to be praised.