"Hmmm, all these sunglasses look good for me and my sisters.."
"Wow! This piece suits me."
"Big sis, this is the colour I like."
"Well, well, we have chosen what we like. We can go now."For children like my grandkids, shopping is just so simple. They will just select the items they like and presto, they can bring the items home. Just like what they did with those sunglasses. They kept them inside their individual pockets and got out of the store without my daughter and me or even the sales clerk noticing that they had those.
When we were inside the car, my daughter noticed those sunglasses. I took that as an opportunity to teach them values in life. I asked my daughter to go back to the store to explain what happened before paying them. With that experience my grandkids learnt that things in the store are meant to be paid. They cannot bring home things that they have not yet paid. Mostly, they learnt that they have to ask permission from their Mom before they can take things away from the store.
This was just a simple situation wherein we adults can make use of the"teachable moment" to young kids. When we make use of those teachable moments, it will be easier for children to understand and remember values and facts of life.
So the next time you go on shopping with your kids, look out for those teachable moments. Don't let those moments slip away without your kids not learning from the situation.
2 comments:
Hay, good for you and your daughter (applause, applause)!
After having worked retail for so long, I'm sort of left with a less idealistic, more cynical view of people as shoppers. I've seen more parents ignore these "teaching moments" because it's easier to deny the situation than confront reality. I've even seen them defend their kids for doing the wrong thing because of their bruised egos. I've seen parents teach their kids to just take what they can, even what's not theirs, simply because they feel like the world owes them for something.
What you did for your grandkids is a gift. You can teach a lot of things in school, but integrity is something your learn by example. And you learn this more and more by constantly being tested and finding the strength to do the right thing even when it's the hardest thing to do.
*Gigi thank you.
That is why they said that children are gifts from God. What we make of them is our gift to God in return. And yeah, there is pain in doing the right thing. But there is a reward( in different forms) for doing things the right way.
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