All About Your Child

Some of my close friends, who are also my faithful readers, often ‘scold‘ me, “Why do you always say that Keatkeat is very difficult to handle? He looks like a perfectly well-behaved boy to me (us).”

Even after sharing so many different incidents on this blog and outside of this blog to them, it seemed that it was not enough to put my message across.

Hhhmmm….probably what happened yesterday will finally make them ‘SEE‘ the light! *laugh*

Before I share what happened yesterday, let me make this clear. I strongly believe that God is fair and that in life there is always a balance. You have some and you lose some.

I am extremely thankful that I have two extremely different children. I had to pay so much attention on Keatkeat every single day that often I feel like I only have one child, because his 18months younger brother is so independent, understanding and reliable.

Each day, Keatkeat helps me to be a better Mummy. How? By doing things that people with common sense would NOT do! *laugh*

Seriously, I really feel that my level of patience gets to be upgraded with each passing day.

Common sense is VERY common to everyone in this family, except Keatkeat.

To him, his convenience is above all things else. Well, in layman terms, you can call him self-centered or subconsciously he does things that annoys us.

It IS his Scorpio-Goat personality in play.

And to Allan, personality is something that comes with him when he is born, unlike manners, which can be taught and cultivated. So to Allan, he has succumbed to that and for me, I just want to challenge myself to see if that can be changed.

So yes, every single day, Keatkeat would do something that is either a little annoying or ultra annoying, so much so that Allan will blow his top.

It IS a challenge that I face every day. Do I feel frustrated? No. I just feel that nothing is impossible so long as I do not give up. So I am taking it as a challenge for myself.

Alright, with so much said, what did he do yesterday which made us upset again?

During the afternoon, he wanted to blow his nose at the wash basin in the kitchen. Yes, the one which you wash your dishes in.

I stopped him in time and said, “Keatkeat, does your mucus have germs?”

KK: “yes.”

Me: “What do we wash in this basin?”

KK: “bowls and plates.”

Me: “So if you blow your nose here and I wash our bowls and plates here, what’s going to happen?”

KK: “bowls and plates will have germs and when we use the bowls and plates, we’ll be sick.”

Me: “Yes. So should you still blow your nose here?”

KK: “No.” and he walked to the toilet.

After we ate our dinner, I was almost done with washing the dishes and Keatkeat came and stood beside me and BLEW HIS NOSE INTO THE WASH BASIN!

YES! RIGHT BESIDE ME!

*Super Eyes Rolled*

You tell me?! Do you think he did it on purpose???!!!!

Well, let me tell you, he did not.

He did it because its so CONVENIENT!

He knew he had to take his medication (yes he is still unwell, infact his condition take a turn for the worse) after dinner. Which is why he came into the kitchen and stood beside me to wait for his medication to be given.

So while waiting, his nose tap was turned on and he just decides to flush his mucus down into the wash basin, which happened to be conveniently (placed) right infront of him; REGARDLESS IF THERE IS ANYTHING IN THE WASH BASIN!!!

Thank goodness! There was only ONE plate left! I rescued the rest of the bowls and plates. They must be CHEERING on the drainer!

Yes, his mucus was on that ONE PLATE!!!

My Reaction?!

“KEAT…KEAT!!!!” (as usual) followed by a sigh.

And just like every other time when he did something wrong, he would say, “Sorry Mummy. I don’t know why I did it.”

In my heart, I answered that question, “I know. Its your Scorpio-Goat personality at fault!”

Did I throw away that plate?

NO!

I kept it as a reminder for him. I called it the ‘Keatkeat Plate‘.

Me: “I am going to wash this plate and YOU and ONLY YOU will be using this plate. To REMIND YOU TO BLOW YOUR NOSE IN THE TOILET!”

You know what did he say?

KK: “You must wash it clean hor. Got germs.”

Me: “Oh! (acting surprise) You know got germs and you STILL choose to blow your nose HERE?!? Well, you eat your own germs better than others eat your germs right?”

*Super Eyes Rolled*

***Don’t worry, I had doubled and tripled washed/sterilised the ‘KeatKeat Plate‘.

Keatkeat passed my letter to his teacher on Friday. That same day, late afternoon, he called. For readers who missed my post “Making It Official“, Keatkeat = Zac.

Mr L.: “Hi, this is Mr L., Zac’s teacher. Are you Zac’s mother?”

Me: “Yes.”

Mr L.: “I received the letter, but this is the first time I heard of this.”

Me: “But Zac told me that he told you before in the past.”

Mr L.: “No. I do not remember this happening.”

Me: “Nevermind, that is not important. What’s important is what are you going to do about this?”

Mr L.: “I think it is only fair to listen to both sides of the story. I asked JD already and he admitted that he stepped on Zac’s feet. However, JD also told me that Zac purposely walked slowly and blocked him from going forward. That made JD frustrated, which made him retaliate.”

(which is the same thing JD told Keatkeat in their first confrontation in this post “Both Have Their Reasons“)

Mr L. continued: “So I think it is fair that I should give both a chance. Of ‘cos, any physical harm is wrong, but warning has been given to JD. If he does it again, then I will take actions.”

Me: “Is it necessary to wait for Zac to come home limping again or trip and fall before you can take such a simple action of changing their position in the line?”

Mr L.: “Both of them are around the same height. If I put JD at the back with the big boys, it does not look nice as a whole class. And I think everyone should be given a warning first before action is taken. As this is the first time I am hearing this, I think it would be fair that I observe first.”

he paused for a while and continued…

“Please do not hesitate to call me if Zac complains to you again, THEN I will take actions.”

Like I have said in my very first blog post on this topic, ‘Both‘ have their reasons for doing what they do. I know why Mr L. chose to do that, because I was a teacher in the past, I know the consequences if he just change the position.

JD’s parents would probably say something like, “Why do you trust Zac only? If Zac walks slowly on purpose, it is only normal that JD gets frustrated. So the problem maker is Zac.”

At the same time, I think my letter to him is necessary.

It acts as a warning to Mr L. that if it does happen again and Keatkeat has a fall or hurt himself *touch wood*, I am going to hold him responsible because he rejected my simple suggestion of changing their positions.

Period.

Enough is Enough! (part 2: Teacher’s Response)