Vai : The Ups and Downs of Learning Something New
The other day, Vai tried on Anya’s rollerblades for the first time.
And obviously, it was hard for the little guy to stand steadily or move around without wobbling and tumbling down.
Daddy held his hand, but when they both moved forward, he still slipped and fell quite a number of times.
After some time, he apparently fell on his finger.
And I knew it must’ve hurt a lot, for he told us he didn’t want to continue on.
He cried and said he wanted to take the rollerblades off.
I was frankly torn between needing to persistently encourage him to not give up (ie. ignore his request), and agreeing to his request.
Then Wilson reminded me of this.
There’s a time when we should not force a child to do something.
We should instead encourage him to firstly LIKE what he does.
Because, how can a child be willing to endure the pain of falling and tumbling if he himself is not willing to learn it in the first place?
How can a child naturally grow to LOVE something, if he’s constantly scolded and forced? (especially since it’s not about something that he MUST do, ie. rollerblading is not something that he must master)
Of course, we can always try to spur his interest by casually talking about how fun rollerblading is, how we can rollerblade together at East Coast Park, etc.
And if Vai is keen, and is ready to pick up rollerblading again out of his own initiatives, we THEN be there and encourage him further.
And, if over time, he grows to LOVE rollerblading but occasionally encounters difficult phases where he wants to give up, then THAT’s when we need to be firm and NOT let him give up.
Hmm.
I agree with my husband. And yep, we’ll go with that approach.
…
Note to Vai:
Learning something new is not easy.
There’ll be ups and downs.
We know because we’ve been there too.
So, hang in there.
And know that we’ll always be there for you.
