Am I Raising My Kid Well? (I Think I Have the Receipts).

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As you know, I have just resumed writing and posting content on my blog. I had not done any creative writing or written to express my thoughts for quite some time, and it feels so great to be back. The interesting thing is that now that I am back, my mind is always spiralling, always looking for another story. As odd as it may sound, there is beauty to that. The beauty being that now, with my ever-spiralling mind, I can see even the slightest of incidents and see an exciting story out of it. I don’t know how to describe this best, but I think it is the beauty and joy that comes with doing something you love.

In this case, I am going to write about my five-year-old son – Leroy. Just something I noticed a few days ago that I find interesting.  Now that I think about it, the broader context of the story, leans towards my idea of courtesy as it has emerged through my short parenting journey.

I was brought up by parents who highly regarded courtesy and honesty. On most occasions, the crime was not making a certain mistake but lying about it. We were also taught always to say thank you, sorry, and please where necessary, as it was the courteous thing to do. As a parent, I try to instil the same courteous behavior in my son, Leroy. Although he is a little cheeky and has to some degree, learnt to lie to get out of trouble, I seem to have made some impact. Whenever I do something for him, especially when it involves food, he says thank you. However, I did not really bank on that so much to know I had taught him well because afterall, which kid doesn’t love food? I mean, the thank you is mostly from excitement.

So, the other day, Leroy caught me off-guard when he suddenly told me, “mom pole.” I was confused since I could not remember having a dispute with him. He had just arrived from school and was waiting for his snack. So, I asked, “Pole, why?” And he said, “pole juu nliangukia simu yako jana. Sikua nataka mom, ilikua accident, sitaangusha tena.” He was wearing this innocently remorseful face that you could tell he was sorry.  I didn’t say,”Aaaaww,” out loud, but I guess I can say it now, aaaaawww.☺☺

That’s when I remembered our “little” encounter the previous day.

Leroy dropped my phone, and I got mad. He had made it a habit, or so I thought in between my fit of rage. He was not careful enough. I even had evidence to back up my conclusion. He always had his dad’s phone with him and he rarely mishandled it, let alone drop it. So, in my anger, I grabbed my phone and told him that I would never give it to him again. He did not say anything then, he just sat back wearing this frown, and I could not tell whether he was disappointed in himself or angry at me.

Now that he had apologized for the incident, at least I knew as much as I had reprimanded him, he acknowledged that he was at fault. I am not going to lie though, I was taken aback by the fact that he could recall the incident when I had completely forgotten about it. I guess these are the surprises, joys, and rewards of parenting. I’ve always had the at least I’m trying” mentality when it comes to parenting but hey, looks like we’re doing something!

 

❤❤❤❤

Nyambura Macharia