Go With the Flow

On a rainy Saturday, my sister-in-law’s husband and I took the boys to Kid Junction. What I like about this place is that the boys can play for five or six hours by themselves and I can read my book. They got to do some physical activities on the multi-level climber and be off the iPad. It’s well-worth the ten-dollar-admission for each kid. It’s a good marketing strategy that adults are always free.

As I cut my boys loose and enjoyed reading my book at the cafe table, a mom asked if she and her two-year-old girl could share the table. As we had our little chitchat, she asked me if I had any ground rule for the kids when they were younger. She and her husband are having difficult time with the little girl because she doesn’t understand or listen yet.

I gave her my honest answer. I had no rule in place and I improvised my way through. Although I am flattered that she asked me, but I am the wrong guy to ask. I am not good at parenting. In fact, I am terrible at it. All the things kids do that I despised when I was not a parent, my kids had done it or doing it. When I refrained from spanking them, all the rules and disciplines broke. Even when they disrespected me by hitting or screaming at me, I took them. It angered me, but it would hurt me more if I hit them. It’s a horrific feeling to hit my children, something I wouldn’t do to anyone else. Rising kids have been extremely stressful for me, but things are getting better. My six-year-old still whines a lot, but he is no longer hitting. My soon-to-be four-year-old still does it every once in a while. He hits his brother more than us. I gave him timeout and other kind of disciplines. Though he’s a lovely kid most of the time.

As far as school goes, I had not done much for them. Đạo’s reading assessment dropped in the beginning of the school year. To help him read, I have been using Let’s Read. We have been reading three or four pages each night and his reading had improved. He recognizes the words quicker and reads faster. I am so glad that I have found this book in the library. I came across it while looking for a grammar book for myself.

Parenting is a long-term commitment with patience and discipline. It is a constant challenge. Even though the excitement of the third child is not as much as the first one, I am very much looking forward to seeing him. Again I’ll just go with the flow.