A Singapore friend of mine had put out her experience of coaxing kids and encouraging them to take up positive habits in life. A digital educator in Singapore, she frequently writes about her parenting experiences. Here’s a piece in her own words on her temperament of not giving up trying to get her kids to add positive skills to their repertoire.
When my children were young, I cracked my brains.
How to encourage them to eat more vegetables?
I tried all sorts of ways. Consistently over the years.
They now eat a variety of veg; am really thankful that they enjoy eating raw veg without dressing.
Now my children are teenagers. I cracked my brain. Again.
How to encourage them to read more books?
I tried all sorts of ways. Gentle nudging. Pitching about the value that they will get from reading the books I have for them. Offering to pay them to read (an idea from Dr John C Maxwell’s father).
One teen is now inspired to read on her own, choosing her own books on leadership and telling me: “now my favourite phrase is – add value to others!”
As for the other teen, having failed in many previous attempts, I discovered a new way tonight – “I will massage your back as you read. The longer you read, the longer your
She thought for a second, grabbed a book about getting things done in a distracted world, and said “ok!” And then I used one hand to massage her and used the other hand to hold a book that I read myself as I massaged her.
Parenthood forces me to be creative. And learn not to give up easily. ??
Thank you Carol, for letting me share it with my blog readers. I am sure they will enjoy reading it and be inspired to try out a few tricks themselves.
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