All About Your Child

Kids are the best models for “monkey see, monkey do.”

Parents are children’s idol. Your child loves you, adores you, respect and may even fear you, all jumbled up…Often, they just copy what you do, how you do it, what you say, how you say it, without really thinking why.

To them, since you are their idol, whatever you do MUST be right, or cool, or safe, or fun…They just want to be like you. Unknowingly, even after they grew up, they still behave the same way, more or less, as you.

Whenever I see my boys doing things the way I do, or even speaking in my style; I can’t help but rememeber the story told by T. Harv Eker in his book, The Secrets of The Millionaire Mind….

“A woman who prepares a ham for dinner by cutting off both ends. Her bewildered husband asks why she cuts off the ends. She replies, “That’s how my mom cooked it.”

Well, it just so happened that her mom was coming for dinner that night. So they asked her why she cut off the ends of the ham. Mom replies, “That’s how my mom cooked it.”

So they decided to call Grandma on the phone and ask why she cut off the ends of the ham. Her answer? “Because my pan was too small!”

See? Kids just copy what they see. So please, dear parents all over the world, including myself, watch how you behave, what you say in front of your kids. They are so observant and learn so fast. Before you know it, your style is rooted in them.

Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.
~David Bly

Almost everyday, I can see from the newspapers that a child is reported missing. I think it is important to let your child be safety smart when he knows how to articulate his words.

My heart is aching as I type this down…. I lost Binbin in a shopping mall before. At that time, Binbin was only 26 months old. I was paying for his father’s birthday cake and when I was done, only Keatkeat was beside me.

Keatkeat was too busy looking at the cashier putting the cake in the box, he didn’t notice where or when did Binbin walked away.

We searched the entire basement 1 of Jurong Point Shopping Mall, I just refused to believe that Binbin would dare to go up the escalator on his own. I was fighting back my tears, my heart was pounding harder as I dashed in and out of every shop without any sight of Binbin.

I was just too “Ahhhhh…” that I didn’t even thought of going to the information counter to report the missing child. It was the security guard that grabbed my arm and said, “are you ok? Can I help?”, then I realised how flustered I was.

Immediately went to level one information counter and gave a full description of Binbin. Rushed back down to B1 to continue my search, its really not easy to find a kid that was only 0.8m tall on a busy Saturday in a shopping mall.

A few minutes later, my phone rang, the caller told me that my child was found and is waiting at the info counter.

My tears just flowed when I saw how hard Binbin was crying. Hugged him, kissed him and kept saying, “I love you very much, please hold my hands at all times…”

For kids below 4 years old, its good to write the parents phone numbers, at least, on a piece of paper and stuff it in his pocket or get a small tag, hang over his neck like a necklace.

For kids above 4 years old make them memorise you and your spouse’s handphone numbers and the home address. Teach him to use the telephone.

Let your child know that when he realise he is lost, he must stay exactly where he is and explained that it will be easier to look for him faster. Or inform a security guard, if he sees one, that he is lost.

Teach your child that other than the security guard, any other stranger who tries to coax your child to follow him, your child must yell, “I don’t know you, you are not my mother or father, go away!”

These tips are not excuses for parents to be inattentive to their children when they are outdoor, rather it pays to arm the child with these basic safety knowledge when emergency arise.