Mirror, the Forgotten Parenting Buddy

Knowing yourself is hard. Heck, it’s even harder for children. And as a parent, it is such a constant struggle. I hate myself when yelling to him. “Son, calm down.” “Boy, lower your voice when speaking to mom,” or sympathetic response such as “You must be disappointed. You have done well putting the puzzle in place but one part is missing.”

The problem is, I (or his mom) need to be there. I wish him to self-regulate himself, with or without me. At home or at school.

I want him to embrace the whole him. Confidence yet humble. Tenacious yet flexible. Courageous enough to confront people, but prudently taking their emotion into account.

It never crossed my mind that the solution is near. They only need to see themselves—in a blunt and honest way. Hence, there comes mirror. Whenever he experience some form of emotions, I try to let him see his face and gesture. It’s magical how he can absorbed such complex information.

I even successfully let him breathe deeply after calming his tantrum. Lovely!

Meanwhile my little boy just woke up from his nap. He shouted. He cried. All he wanted is me playing with him, just Now!

Well… it’s still a long journey. But I already have one reliable buddy.

I waited for my moment. It was somewhere between his third punches and his cries.

“Come son. Before we play, let’s see who’s that little boy over there!”