My lil Parrot

The Malay phrase, " Bapa borek, anak rintik" (Like father, like son) has really got me.. but I think it should be changed to "Mama borek, anak rintik" instead.. (Like mom, like son).. Its the not-cute-side of lil C!!

I have noticed that every single most things lil C does, esp the ones that irritates me, he learnt that from me.. indirectly. I have to admit that sometimes, when someone asked for something from me (as the object was closest to me), I would get it and throw it to the person rather than politely pick it up and send to the person gently (like walking towards him).. Haha! Lil C does it to us too, just like the way MaMa had taught lil C indirectly! "Christian, can you please get MaMa the tissue?" He will get the tissue and throw it towards me *piak!*... Boo hoo, mama!

Then, his speeches... Sometimes he asked MaMa too many questions at a time.. and MaMa was too lazy busy to answer him, MaMa would reply, "Dunno!"; "Later"; "Wait first"; "Hold on"... etc.. and guess what, that's exactly how lil C replied to us, and its irritating! hahaha!

Lately, he uses demanding sentences like, "Papa, answer me please!! Why you didnt answer me?"; "Listen to me first"; "Let me talk first"; "You see what you have done!"; "I am not happy with this!" ; "You made me very upset!" all in exact words & expression, thanks to MaMa! Oh.. not to forget, he whines & sighs too.. just like an old maid!

Sometimes, he would say things to save his butt, like "Please Papa, I want that. MaMa says if I say please, I can have it!!" "Maybe MaMa took/did it" hmmmm.... screwing MaMa's reputation in front of PaPa.. Ahem! Well, I did it again.. if lil C was trying to find his toys and I dont want him to get it or I just couldnt simply find it or just lazy to look for it.. I's say PaPa took it to work!! Boo hoo!

At times, I couldnt control my laughter... other times, I would be mad at him for doing/saying things like that! Well, cant blame him.. its like GIGO! "Garbage In, Garbage Out!".. reminding me of the term WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get), during my computing class back then.

The next newest behaviour is that, he likes & purposely, make us angry because he wants attention! He would climb on the table, but before he does it, he makes sure that we notice and realise what is his next step. His eyes will look at me... feet on the table... waiting for me to scold him.. ?? Or, when he drinks his water from a glass, he looks at me again... just to make sure I am looking, and pour the water out from the glass...

Urgghh!!! These are the most recent irritating behaviours, and the above mentioned were just a handful! Sometimes, we think he does it because he knows there's a baby coming soon... But sometimes, he does it because he just want to be noticed, esp at this age!

Sigh! It is sooo mentally tiring to sometimes think what have I done wrong... what must I do.. If I spank/scold him, he will repeat the behaviour because he know that he manage to get attention from us! Recently, I ordered a book on Discipline Without Shouting/Spanking. It hasnt arrived yet... I wonder how the westerners can bring up their children without spanking....?? They use terms like time-out, offering choices, re-directing etc.. (not that I adore their culture so much, but in the Asian society, I was brought up with the phrase Spoil the rod and spare the child .. or issit the other way round?? *scratch head)

I want to raise my kids where they have their inner thoughts and own character... the question is how to do it?

Further reading:

• How to discipline a child effectively without spanking
• Discipline without disgrace