He has always made us proud

Everyone is amazed when Isaac says "please" and thank you". And sometimes when he greets people "Hello", "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Happy New Year".

We, as parents feel more than proud. Proud that we managed to set a good example and proud that we have managed to encourage him to do so. Oh, maybe this will only be understood by parents. Perhaps for some people it's nothing. But you will really be surprised that it is not easy to do this. Believe me. It took us a lot of effort, examples and praises. I have been to places where I saw other kids having trouble saying "thank you" when receiving gifts or something from other people even when the parents try by saying "so, what's the magic word?" or "what should you say?".

When we first taught him, we used this type of approach too. We asked him "hey, what should you say to Uncle Choo?" or "what's the magic word, baby?". We also told him, that people will like him more and give more stuffs if he says "thank you" and "please". He likes the idea. So after a while, he picked up and now he is very good at it. He can say "thank you" and "please" without us need to ask him to say these magical words.

And by showing good example, it really helps a lot. Honey and I show our love. We love each other and we express the feeling. When he is going out, even to downstairs to pick up something from car, we kiss each other and say "I love you". That shows Isaac that it's a beautiful thing to do because everytime we do that, he will also repeat the same thing. He will come to me and say "okay Mummy, I am following Daddy yea. I love you".

When I ask for his help, I will say "please". So that he knows everyone should say "please" not only him. In fact, he has been advising his aunt who is my elder sister to say "please" when she asks anything from him. That is just adorable, right?

We praise him a lot. We make it as practice to praise him everytime he does something good. We will say "Aw Isaac, you are such a smart and good boy. Mummy and Daddy love you so much".

Most important (beautiful to me) is whenever he thinks he has done something wrong. He will quickly say "sorry" even if it was really not his fault. In one occasion, Isaac accidentally knocked his head over mine while playing "boxing", so he said "sorry Mummy. Boy loves Mummy". I mean, isn't that wonderful to hear your baby say "sorry" to you without being forced to, like many other kids? I know many parents who will force the kids to say "sorry" whenever the kids misbehave in front of others because they (the parents) feel embarrassed. But I personally think it's not right. The kids will learn that they must say "sorry" because they are forced to. Not because they should.

"It's far more important to teach empathy than to force a child to parrot hollow words"~Brown Braun

I am just sharing my beautiful life so I hope I don't offend anybody by this writing.

God bless.