This post by Petunia Lee has somewhat knock me in the head. Indeed I have been far too focus on what my son cannot do than what he can do best. I always hound him for that 0.9% rather than applaud him for that 99.1%. I am hereby challenging myself to list down his strengths.
1) He's independent
I can trust him to manage his own school work. Very rarely I have to hover around neither do I need to send him constant reminders. I can fully rely on him to tell me his homework for the day rather than checking what was instructed in his hand book. I can also leave him alone to complete his homework; I don't have to nag him to do his work nor coach him.
2) He always does his best
Sonshine puts in effort in his school work. He's been like this since kindergarten days. I recall the kindergarten teachers, even those who didn't teach him, would come up to me and praise him for his efforts. They said they could tell he really put in a great deal of effort to achieve what the teachers want. Now at primary school, he's Chinese teacher also recognises Sonshine efforts when it comes to his school work. She was so impressed once that she sent me a Watsapp during class praising him for his good effort.
3) He is responsible
I was prepared for reports of lost items f& replacing water bottles, pencil cases and what nots when he began his primary school journey. Surprisingly I have none of that. He always brings home his belongings intact- nothing missing till to this very day. I can trust him to take care of his belongings.
4) He is self motivated
Once I totally forgot that he had spelling the next day. I was only reminded when I saw him taking out his textbook and revising on his own. Still clueless, I questioned him why only then did I realised he was revising for spelling. Needless to say, I was more than happy that he takes ownership of his work.
The other day, he had to list down of words with a particular ending that was difficult to look them up in the dictionary. I had to help him by giving him clues and how to think for more words. After he managed to list down about 5 words, I told him to stop there since he was only required to 'list down as many words as possible'. But he insisted to complete all the blanks. But this mama was lazy and refused to help him any further. Instead of closing his book, he persisted and thought hard on his own until he completed the list.
5) He is a planner
We are a party family. So over the weekends (which starts on Friday for us) we regularly chill out till late into the night. There's hardly pockets of time for Sonshine to do his homework. However, he surprises me by waking up earlier than all of us on Sunday mornings so that he can quietly complete his homework before we head to church. I'm heartened that this boy is able to think ahead & plan without our inputs.
At school, he also manages his time well. He tells me that he will break his recess time such that he has enough time to eat, visit the loo, play and head to the assembly area before the bell rings. Everyday. Whoa, the discipline he has!
+++++++
I am thankful that he posseseed these traits, I cannot say that the credit is all mine (although I would love too, LOL!). These characteristics are indeed more valuable than scoring the As in schools. For if he continues to hold on to these traits, I know it will bring him far in his adult life (of course with Christ guiding & honing these traits in Sonshine).
Creating this list does help me to see Sonshine in a different light. It helps me to appreciate his strengths more than set my eyes on his shortcomings. I am truly thankful that he is blessed with these strengths. And I am blessed to be called his mama.
Now it's your turn to list down your child's strengths.
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