I So Fast!

There is a downside to Ace being more mobile and independent.


Now that he is capable of doing things like change, wear his shoes etc, he wants to do them himself.. and very often at his own speed.

The more you hurry him, it seems, the slower he will get.


And yet, he insists that you are not to help him.


The one that really gets on my nerves is packing his toys.


Now that he goes to school, he is trained and understands a need to pack up after he finishes with a game and I make it a point that he keeps the last game he plays before he gets to play the new game.


But leh, it gets on my nerves that the more you hurry him, the longer he takes. Add that to the fact that he likes to throw all the toys from the box all over the floor... something that makes your house look like it has just been through world war 3 or something... it aint very good for this mummy's patience.


Not only that, as he packs up.. with every single toy he picks up, he would play with it for another 5-10 min and he ends up taking 2 hours to pack the toys back when he could have done it within 3 min!


Sometimes when I have time, I let him be. After all, I understand he is exploring...


When I dun have the time, I would hurry him and end up making him SLOWER! I don't know if he is doing it to annoy me or what but experts tell me that hurrying our kid gives them more expectations and anxiety so it adds up to a viscious cycle and makes them slower...


But now I am clever. When he is slow.. I will start to pack the toys and tell him, "I am so fast.. I am so fast.. " And then I pack and pack and when I am done, I tell him, "I am so fast, I win!"


After a few times, I notice this is a much better way to motivate him to speed up because the moment I tell him, "I am so fast!" he starts to pick up speed and repeats "I am so fast!"


And most importantly, this is applicable not only to packing toys, putting on shoes, wearing his clothes and is even applicable to when he is walking too slowly... ;)

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