Parenting 101: Nak mandi ke nak baring?

Last night I encounter a miscommunication. With who? Yes, with my little girl Rara. My husband is out for his usual table tennis session with his friends. So, it’s just the two of us at home watching TV. After a while, Rara get bored and become restless. Well, am still glued to the TV watching Nanny 911.

Nanny 911, NTV7, Wednesday (8.30pm - 9.30pm)

She started seeking for my attention. Nak kartun la, nak susu la dan macam-macam lagi la yang dia nak*sigh*. So, I ask her firmly what her actual demand is. Ok, she said she want to take a bath. Then I told her give me 10 minutes because I want to watch the Nanny 911. Silly me. Of course she won’t allow me to do so. It’s either she don’t understand my request or just being stubborn. But I really want to watch the show!

So, I try to distract her with other thing while my eyes on TV. Ok2, I know I’m being a bad mom here. But, can’t she tolerate with me? *dengan anak sendiri pun nak gaduh..hehe..* So as a result of both of us being stubborn, she cried. It’s becoming louder and louder. I gave up and carry her to the bathroom. And guess what? She cried even louder! Tak nak masuk bilik air pulak. Tadi kata nak mandi? 

Then I just put her back on the floor in front of the TV while am going to the kitchen to get some water to cool me down. From the kitchen I can hear she’s crying her lung out “nak mandi, nak mandi”. Haih, this little girl is making me confuse. Then suddenly she came to the kitchen with her pillow. Oooo….dia bukan nak mandi la. Rupa-rupanya, she changed her mind from “nak mandi” to “nak baring”! Patut la tak nak masuk bilik air. It sounded same to me. So, as soon as I put her on my lap with her pillow she stopped crying. As though nothing happen!

Peace Mama! (Yes, that's Rara trying to imitate the "Peace" sign)

So lesson learnt. Listen to your child and don’t assume. It works wonders if you understand what they really want. Children can change mind in split seconds. You never know. But, we should set the limit and not blindly follow their request. Well, lucky me. Her changing request from “nak mandi” to “nak baring” buys me extra time to watch my show! Am I bad? Maybe most of mom out there would say that bringing her straight to the bathroom before she starts crying is the best solution. Ya, maybe. We know ourselves and children best.