There comes a time, a child is on a go-slow

Like adults, children also have a go-slow once in a while. These are days they are on a passive strike.

The reason could be failing to honour a promise like buying them a present or taking them out.

My daughter Tasha was on one a few weeks ago. She was quite passive, unusually quiet and uncooperative. I had been ignoring her mood swings, opting to also give her a cold shoulder.

I did not know how serious the problem was until her teacher called me. She notified me that my daughter was on a passive strike in school.

Apparently, she did not do much in class; she just stared blankly at the other pupils and the teacher while they did class work. She did not do her class work or if she did it, she put in a shoddy job, which was completely unlike her.

“Mama Tasha, you need to talk to your daughter. She is not herself,” the teacher complained when she called me. That evening, I spoke to her. Apparently, she was in a nasty mood because I promised to buy her a gift when she emerged number one, but I had not honoured the promise.

PlayStation

“You promised to buy me a play station last term when I become number one, but you have not done so and schools have opened. You always say you are broke.”

What made the matter worse was the fact that she had announced to her friends in school that her mummy would buy her this gadget. By failing to honour my word, I have put her in an awkward position because her friends in school kept ridiculing her. Oh my! The Good Book says it is better to not make a promise than to make one and break it. I was on the spot!

As a parent, I am learning the value and importance of being honest and truthful to a child.

Do not promise her heaven if you cannot deliver. Kids learn by emulating what they see us doing, and so if you keep breaking your promises, you are unknowingly instilling this value in them and setting a bad example to them.

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