Monday, March 5, 2007

Battle Of The Wills

At his age, Jesse is able to understand what we say, though he may not necessarily understand why we say it. Still, as far as conventional parenting in the Tan Family is concerned, it means he's all ready for a good spanking every now and then.

Last week, we sat down to dinner and Jesse got a little difficult. For whatever reason, he decided not to partake of our food. He took a small bite of his hard-boiled egg and he decided that that was enough eating for the day. Despite our pleadings and coercing, the boy decided it was time for TV instead. And so the drama began. The boy wanted TV, and we wanted him to eat. And so we caned him on the palm. I doubt it it really hurt, but Jesse cried his eyes out anyway.

In the end I laid down the law - no food, no TV. I marched him off to bed, fully expecting him to buckle and eat some egg. But, no, it was not to be. This was a battle of the wills and I think the boy understood that to give in meant to give up his rights, his freedom and his way of life... perhaps forever.

And so my little freedom fighter put on a brave front, sucking in his snot and wiping off his tears and trotted off to bed. As he did, he turned around for one last wistful look at our lifeless idiot box and said in a sorrowful little tone, "Bye-bye, Barney."

*sigh*


We have no idea where he gets his strong will. His melodrama, however, is definitely his mother's.

Still, for some warped-out reason, I have newfound respect for my son. Either he will grow up to be a great leader, or he'll end up in jail. Hahah! Let's hope it's the former.

12 comments:

  1. I thought you would give in after Jesse bid his farewell to Barney. The sorrowful eyes and tears... Aww....
    Heh! Am sure he will be able to achieve something with his strong will.

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  2. Yeah? I tried the "I'm going to swich off the TV if you don't eat" tactic once, and the little kiddo switched it off for me... sans food in his mouth of course... :roll:

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  3. I have lost countless nights of sleep over my son's insistance to stay awake till way past mid-night :(
    I guess it's a big gaoment conspiracy... they must have allowed some chemicals in our food intake that transform our future generations into hard headed mutants... LOL!

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  4. He's probably gonna go to school tomorrow and announce to everyone that his dad beats him...

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  5. Maybe the melodrama was to rebel against the little ang-pow money you gave him? LOL

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  6. hahaha...
    wasn't it easier when they were lil bubs and obeyed your everyword????
    Ahh...how I miss those "dependent" days...

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  7. Gosh, Jesse sounds like me when I was a kid. Probably means he'll grow up to be an engineer, then a marketing guy, then a writer, then a designer, then... Or, maybe not.
    If it makes you feel any better, all us naughty kids forget about the caning when we grow up and only remember if our parents took the time to love us when we were young. :)

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  8. Let's hope so, Jason.
    :lol: They're way ahead of us, Kat!
    Not my son, Egghead. He refuses to eat, remember? :lol:
    Yeah, Fanboy. Who's yo daddy?
    Arrrrghhh Anjali. Methinks we may have forgotten to give him an angpau altogether!!!
    Indeed, MOTT!
    No, Kenny. I distinctly remember my granny beating the shit out of me. :lol:

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  9. Yeah... I wonder where he got his bull-headed personality from. :lol:

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  10. Dear James,
    Hi! I've been following your blog for sometime now. One of my favs. :) Talk about strong will...my boys are like that too. Sean will be 3 next month & Aidan's 15 mths old. They're both very strong willed. I have battles galore with Sean everyday over just about anything. It's very stressful & heartbreaking but I'm told it's the Terrible 2's (which extends to 3's and 4's for some kids, it seems) and that he'll grow out of it. I hope so. Aidan's already showing signs of being more "hebat" than his bro. *sigh*
    Thanks for the really funny posts. Keep it up!
    Cheers!
    Liz

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  11. Fooh.. maybe can send him for early casting as a child actor. He sure can act, this little one.

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  12. His mother, Bonnie. His mother. :lol:
    Thanks for dropping by, Liz. Jesse's a little slow so he never had his Terrible Twos, but whaddya know, Terrible Threes!!!
    Gina, Hindustan movie boylah, this.

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