For me, that was today. Well, I am an adult, I've been one for awhile now. Today I felt most like an adult because I made the decision for my son not to watch TV....OK, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Today started like any other day. Wake up at 6:40, get my son out of bed and on the couch so that he can wake up, and eat breakfeast before he has to go to school. The problem today was that it was Monday. The other problem was that he didn't want to go to school and wear his uniform. In Taiwan kids have to wear uniforms to school.
The kid today didn't want to go to school because he had to wear the uniform. He wanted to stay home. Since I work from home, he thought he could take advantage of me being at home. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay at home today. I had errands to run and just couldn't take care of him. As the time passed for him to go to school, my wife and I decided that he woud go to his Secondary English school at noon. It was 8:15 when we decided to call it.
This was the time I felt like an adult and like my dad. I put my foot down and with my index finger pointing at my son, I told him the parameters of staying home with dad. No TV, no toys, no reading, no doing anything productive. He had to sit in one place till I decided it was time to leave. I thought this lesson would encourage him to go school the next day and avoid staying home because home was not fun. I also removed anything comfortable for him to lay on. So thats why he's sitting there without cushions in the picture below. He had to sit with his butt to the back of the couch, which is uncomfortable and he had to think about the decision he made today.
He sat in the area for about 3 hours. Kid time, probably felt like an eternity. By the end, He was about to fall alseep, but each time I would tell him to "wake up" and "sit up straight".
At the end of this lesson, I asked him if he was bored and if he wanted to stay home again? He looked up at me with dark eyes and general face of being bored out of his mind, He nodded his head yes and seemed like he wanted this lesson to end. I let him sit there 15 more mins and then we went out to run errands.
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| This is what boredom looks like. |
This was the time I felt like an adult and like my dad. I put my foot down and with my index finger pointing at my son, I told him the parameters of staying home with dad. No TV, no toys, no reading, no doing anything productive. He had to sit in one place till I decided it was time to leave. I thought this lesson would encourage him to go school the next day and avoid staying home because home was not fun. I also removed anything comfortable for him to lay on. So thats why he's sitting there without cushions in the picture below. He had to sit with his butt to the back of the couch, which is uncomfortable and he had to think about the decision he made today.
He sat in the area for about 3 hours. Kid time, probably felt like an eternity. By the end, He was about to fall alseep, but each time I would tell him to "wake up" and "sit up straight".
At the end of this lesson, I asked him if he was bored and if he wanted to stay home again? He looked up at me with dark eyes and general face of being bored out of his mind, He nodded his head yes and seemed like he wanted this lesson to end. I let him sit there 15 more mins and then we went out to run errands.
