Handing over Habits

Tori my first daughter loves book and all that has to do with it. Her siblings have caught the book bug from her. For which I am grateful. She is learning to read and you do not need to encourage her. She picks up every piece of paper and tries to merge the sounds.

I woke up yesterday evening from sleep to see a book I have read to them a million times pushed under my nose. “Mummy, please read it for me.”

Immediately she walks into the house from school. Her first sentence is: “mummy, we have assignment.” Then they both wait for me to say: “bring it” and off they go. Running to see who will bring her bag first. If her assignment is much and I tell her to finish up later. She tells me: “No, let me finish it now. I will forget if I leave it for later.” Whenever her sister is not given an assignment. There will be serious waterworks because she wants to have an assignment like Tori.

Anytime she says mummy “let’s do our assignment.” I tell her later. But she keeps insisting or crying till I either give in or convince her to wait for her dad or uncle to help her.

There have been no qualms saying “Later”. But this morning she came to meet me. After greeting, she said. “Mummy today is public holiday and we haven’t done our assignment. Should we bring our books?” As usual, I replied “No, we will do it later.” “But, I want to do it now.” She argued in a teary voice.

I kept saying Tori, please later…then a thought occurred to me. “Don’t you think you are teaching them procrastination? You keep saying later for what they can do now. What do you want them to learn from that…? It’s okay to do things later when you can do them now?

This is an angle I never considered. The children growing up to be procrastinators is not a future I intend to build.

The plan is to do my best by doing things with them, when they ask for it as much as I can henceforth. But here is my dilemma. I cannot do everything at the moment they want it always.

What is a constructive way of saying it. Without giving off the vibes that things which should be done now can be pushed to later.

Any suggestions?

PS: 80 more days to the book launch of Evados Children Storybook

XOXO