Something very interesting that happened to me yesterday:

I was trying out a game demo on the Xbox 360 yesterday at Bishan Junction 8, when all of a sudden, a tiny hand put itself onto the game controller.

I looked down, and saw a very small boy (he was only up to the height of my waist). The little tyke said, "I wan' to plaaaaay!" And he tried to take over the controller.

So I bent down, and gently but firmly told him, "Ah, you wait your turn first... You must ask people for permission first."

And the little tyke said, "I wan' to plaaaaay!"

Then his mum came along, wondering what her son was doing. She looked a sweet woman, so I casually told her what had happened.

"Oh! Boy, wait your turn first."

"I wan' to plaaaaay!"

"Kor-kor is playing, don't disturb him."

"I wan' to plaaaaay!"

(I'm starting to sense a pattern here...)

But anyway, told him that he has to wait his turn first. So I continued playing the game. The little boy went and grabbed the other controller and fiddled around with it. Nothing too bad; it was a one-player game.

Then poof! Suddenly, I saw the Xbox logo pop up, and the mum exclaiming, "Boy! Don't anyhow touch here touch there!"

Stunned, I looked at the mum, wondering what the boy had done. Seems that the kid had spammed the controls, till he hit the reset button.

"See lah! Spoil the computer..."

I looked at the screen, and gosh, there was a white screen saying something about the CD being incompatible... a white screen of death if there ever was one.

"Yah, boy, your mummy's right... you spoiled the computer."

So felt I had to talk to him, not because of the game, but 'cos this is an attitude problem... told him that he has to be patient, and ask people first.

"But I wan to play."

Explained further to him that he has to be considerate... (I was starting to wonder if he knew any other English sentences.) Then asked him to apologise.

Explained to the mum that I work as a childcare teacher (technically it's correct 'cos I help out as a HopeTots teacher). She looked quite impressed. Haha! So the mum told her son, "Say sorry to Kor-kor."

The little one looked at me and simply sucked his finger. His middle finger. Now I don't think he really meant to show me the finger, but just found it so funny. XD

But still, must be firm with him. 'Cos at this age, children have to learn appropriate boundaries or they'll REALLY suffer in life later.

The boy still kept on sucking his finger.

Gosh. Was starting to worry about germs already.

"Don't suck your finger leh."

*suck suck*

"Got germs..."

*SUCK SUCK*

Anyway, I noticed that the boy wasn't making eye contact. It's a clear sign that the kid isn't listening to you, for one reason or another.

To cut a long story short, the boy's dad came along, and also tried to persuade him to apologise to me. But didn't succeed in the end.

Think his parents are very nice. But perhaps they're too nice with their boy. Found out from his mum that he's 4 years old.

That incident made me think about the difficulty of parenting, especially in training a child to be a mature and responsible adult. Was reflecting: "Train a child in the way [the LORD wants him to] go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Fatherhood is an awesome calling. It's really challenging discipling children. Not disciplining, but discipling.

Thinking how I can train my children next time... I can take the initiative to teach my children to practice care and consideration for others. But also knowing how hard it can be to get a child to listen to you, I think I won't force the kid to say sorry. But I can discipline the kid to make a choice - free will here: "Either you say sorry for what you did just now, or you can choose not to watch TV for a whole day. Your choice!"

That way the kid can learn to make his/her own decisions. And frankly, it's less tiring on the parents too. But thank God, He's the best father around. :D