My wife and I are blessed with two wonderfully spirited children and many days I ponder how their ‘challenging’ traits might positively benefit them later in life. Take for instance our youngest, who, not kidding, threw an all out tantrum that lasted almost two hours about having to eat a burrito made with a corn tortilla rather than the flour tortilla he is used to. After countless explanations of how he would not be permitted to leave the table to play until he had finished his supper, he went on to plea bargain, begging for us to ‘save it’ so he could ‘eat it later’. We explained to him that that would not be an option and if he chose not to eat it for dinner, he would be getting it for breakfast.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about parenting, it’s that you don’t try to bargain with children. Their inexperience and inability to see the big picture and how their choices can bring about negative consequences is for us as parents to teach them. It’s our responsibility to make sure they are loved and cared for to the best of our abilities; to equip them with the knowledge to make the right choices for themselves when they’re older – even if that means eating stuff they don’t like (which, by the way, turned out to not be the case. Once he started in on the burrito he realized it wasn’t half bad and finished it within minutes).
I know that his stubbornness and persistence will both benefit him later in life, but seeing him exert these qualities now is not only difficult but very frustrating. I have to admit though; it is developing patience in us both.