Proud moment

My princess made me so proud today.

There was a storm raging when we got to the pool, half an hour early, before our class was due to start. So we got there ok but the first class couldn't proceed as there was lightning and the lifeguard was blowing the whistle to get everyone out of the pool.

So while we were waiting for the rain to die down and for the lightning to stop flashing, there were a few friends of princess' and they sat down to play some games. Halfway through, one of the mums bought them packets of Twisties to share and my girl came up to ask me for permission to have some, and I said no. I'm a strict mum when it comes to snacks (junk stuff like crisps), sweets etc and I don't like her getting into the habit of consuming them. The same goes for aerated drinks. So, I was distracted chatting to the coach when she asked, and just waved her off. She didn't protest but I didn't think too much of it. A few minutes later, I turned to look at the little group and realised that she was indeed being very good and while the others were snacking, she was just sitting there amongst them, not touching the stuff. It impressed me a lot that she didn't push for it, and it softened my heart watching the poor child exercising self-restraint amidst the temptation, so I relented and told her she could have a little. After a couple, she asked how many more she could have and I said two. That was that, end of story. No pestering whatsoever for more. So it is something that I'm proud of, for her having the responsibility to seek my permission first, and also exercising self-control.

Oftentimes I try to teach her stuff like not to take sweets from strangers etc, but I don't know how much of it gets processed in her little brain. Kids love sweets and it takes lots of self-restraint to say no to a sweet dangled right in front of their little faces. Just the week before, at Halloween, we visited Harris the bookstore and they had the staff dress up in their Halloween outfits, going around with baskets and handing out sweets. I was quite a distance away from princess and she came up to where I was and asked if she could have a little sweet. She said the man from the store offered her one and she said no to him. I told her it's ok, she could have it. So she went up to the counter and asked him nicely for one. On our way out, the same man offered them to another little kid, but she too said no. I laughed to the man and said, all these kids are very well-trained. And I think as parents, that is something that is very important that we ought to impart to our kids. And I try to teach her through the story of Snow White and ask her questions like, did she know the apple was poisoned when SW accepted it? Did it say on the apple that it was filled with poison? The same goes for sweets or stuff that strangers might offer you, so never accept anything from strangers.