One day, a 7 years old girl was brought to my class by her mother. She didn’t join the class that day because she was too scared, cried a lot and even vomited as I knew. I told her mother that she shouldn’t force her to come into my class, perhaps she needed a little more time to calm down. After the class, I talked to the little girl. After some minutes answering my questions and listened to my stories, she told me that her teacher asked her to learn by heart every word and repeat them whenever she and her classmate practiced to write about anything. She was so tired of trying to remember what she had to write that she didn’t want to come to school. At home, her parents and grandparents didn’t let her help to do anything. She told me a secret:
– I wish I could wash the dishes but my mother has never let me do it.
– Really? Have you ever told her about that?
– Many times, but she told me that I am too small to do the dishes.
– Ok, what do you think you need to do the dishes?
It turned out to be a very interesting time for both of us. We shared about household chores, about school and friends. Finally, she told me that she would come back to try if she liked my class. I told her mother about her wish, we agreed that her mother would let her to clean the dishes after they had dinner. The little girl did not only take in to that class but also joined many activities that I and my colleagues prepared for children for the last years. Her mother was convinced to take part in a course for parents.
There were many things happened in 3 years. Now, if you have chance to meet my little friend, you will see a very cheerful girl, willing to be the MC for her class’s gala, volunteering to perform magic tricks in front of her classmates and their parents.
Last week, I saw her tidying up a room after preparing kimbap (Korean sushi) with her friend. She was really eager to take a broom and sweep the floor but she didn’t know how to do it. She came to me and asked if I could help her. Therefore, I showed her how to sweep the floor and we did together while chatting. She told me another secret:
– This is the first time I sweep the floor.
– Do you like it?
– Yes, I like it very much.
– You haven’t done it at home?
– No, my grandparents said that I should spend time on learning rather than sweeping floor.
– Do you want to sweep the floor?
– Yes, and I want to learn how to vacuum, too.
– So how will you do?
We had a long conversation about this subject. Next time I meet her, I’ll know what happened after our chat.
Now I wonder why nowadays many parents don’t let their children do household chores and complaint that their children depend on them too much that they don’t even how to do simple things. “When I were at your age, I were…”, parents usually start.
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