What My Four-Year-Old Daughter taught Me Today
She guided me to ask her the right question
My conversation with my daughter after she returned from school.
“Beti, did you eat cupcake?”
“No.” Polite reply
“Why?”
“I gave away to some grownup kids.” Excited tone
“Why?”
“Because they are nice to me.” Annoyed tone
“Ok good. What did they share with you?”
“Nothing.” Careless reply
“That’s not fair.”
“It is very fair. They are my friends.”In raised angry tone.
This left me to ponder over my teachings.
As a mother basically a human, I always taught my daughter to share with others to inculcate kindness in her heart.
But as a mother and mother only, I didn’t want my daughter to be at loss, to be left with no benefit and to starve for others.
So I asked her,
“Ok good. What did they share with you?”
So basically I am teaching her, *Only Share, My Girl. Don’t Give Away. If you give away, then make sure you get something back as compensation.*
Everyday, I ask her three questions regarding her snacks — Did you eat? Did you share? What did your friends share?
*What did your friends share?*
The first two questions are necessary for me to know if my girl eats and to know if she has the habit of sharing. But why do I even ask the third one? Is that even necessary?
What am I teaching my daughter by asking it?
I realized only today that I am teaching this indirectly —
Share! Help! But get something in return.
As days go by, she may stop sharing and helping others if she don’t get anything in return.
Dangerous.
I can fail as a mom but not as a human.
̶*̶W̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶e̶?̶*̶
Nadine JL https://medium.com/@nadine.io/hstrikethrough-text-in-medium
Casey Botticello https://medium.com/blogging-guide/medium-block-quotes
