From Da Vinci to Oliver Fricker

After seeing how well Laetitia can paint, I bought her a coloring book, hoping to give her more opportunity to practice. But I made a grave mistake, I let her have the book and went to shower without setting any prior expectation with her. When she went to bed that night, I was upset to find that she had done THIS to her new coloring book!


I confiscated all her new books. The next morning, she asked for her coloring book. I took out the book, opened it up to show her the graffiti that she had done to most of the pages. I told her calmly, "Laetitia, this is not acceptable. If you scribble the pages like this, I will throw this away and I will not buy you anymore coloring books."

Instantly, Laetitia broke down. Later, she held my hands and apologized to me, "I am sorry, Mommy."

I let her know that I forgive her but I don't want to see any more of these mindless scribbles and I want her to show me that she can focus and do a decent piece of coloring before I allow her access to the rest of her activities books.

In the late afternoon, while I was working from the study room, she completed a page under the supervision of our helper and proudly show it to me. I gave her a big hug and singing praises of her work.

I reminded her that she can do a good job if she makes an effort to. She smiled, the sweetest smile I ever seen.


Verdict:
Kids needs lots of time and effort from their parents; they needed to be encouraged, corrected and guided. Leave them to grow on other own? Then bear the consequences of your choice and be prepared to face the monsters you had helped created when they are older.

There are no children born to be terrible, just products of ineffective parenting.