I Am The BEST!

I have been reading a book called Appreciating Your Child by Zhou Hong.

In the book, the author talks about appreciating your child to unleash their potential. The author, a father of a deaf little girl... developed his daughter into a child prodigy just by simply appreciating her.

He says that when children are babies and learning to talk or walk, parents tend to be forgiving and encouraging and would encourage them with every little step that they take.

As they get older, however, parents start to compare and demand that they do it right the first time.. especially when it comes to studies. If they do not do well, they are scolded and asked why they are so stupid. In time to come, they really become 'stupid' and will lose interests in their studies. Apparently, I Not Stupid 2's script was written with reference to this book.

I think Ace is very lucky because I understood this since I was very young.

I met my mentors even before I was attached to Max and during the course of my time with my mentors, they have already taught me the importance of appreciation and gratitude.

Also, my religious upbringing in the Singapore Soka Association has always been talking about that.

One book I read called Totochan, The Little Girl By The Window by a Japanese author talks about that too. It is one of my favourite story books since age 9 and it talks about how a naugthy, unruly girl turns out to become a popular artiste with a great big heart. And all this is made possible cos she went to an extraordinary school founded by a extraordinary man, Mr Kobayashi.

Tottochan was a very inquisitive girl who created chaos in class all the time. So she had to keep changing schools because her teachers could not stand her. At Tomoe, she learnt to develop independence.

I remembered there is one story where she was in the toilet and her favourite purse fell into the cesspool (the olden days, the toilet is just a hole in the ground). She then went to the janitor's shed to take a ladle to try to ladle her purse out.

When Mr Kobayashi walked past and saw her, he did not scold her. Most adults would exclaim in shock, "What are you doing?! Put that back at once!"

But Mr Kobayashi just asked her in a curious tone what she was doing and when she explained what she was doing, he merely told her to put the things back to where they belong after she is one. "You really are a good girl, you know?" He said, before he left.

And that was a phrase he often repeated and that was how Tottochan came to believe that she is a good girl.

Because of this, I have been telling Ace that he is a good boy and a successful person when he grows up since he is in my tummy. I also tell him that he is the BEST, the HEALTHIEST, the most VIBRANT, HAPPY, RESPONSIBLE person and he knows how to show gratitude... I tell him that everyday whenever I have the chance.

Then I will raise his arms and say, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" And we would laugh together ;)

When people compliment Ace, I make concious effort to say,"Yes, he is.." instead of doing the typically Asian thing of saying, "No lah, he is very naughty one..."

I guess that is why Ace has a special way of holding his milk bottle. Maybe that is his way of saying, "I am the BEST... even when I am drinking milk.." Hahahaha...