Who says parents can’t win ‘em all?

Donovan Grant
July 31, 2012

Donovan Grant

Lives in: London
From: London
Occupation: IT Business Analyst, Performance & Youth Coach
Web: http://www.donovangrant.com
Twitter: @donovangrant
Facebook: donovan.grant.10
YouTube: youareadiamond

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You’ve probably noticed that in parenting emergencies happen every day! Sometimes we can handle the kids ‘cry for help’ straight away, sometimes we need to put them on hold and occasionally we have to ignore them. It’s all part of the game.

I’m sure you’ll agree that parenting is a game; because, how often is it that your child comes along and disturbs you when you’re doing something important? It’s just a test to see how easy you are. You’re probably thinking “good point Donovan.” The trouble is of course the children don’t care how busy you are, they want your attention now!

Here’s how it works, when Nathan, my 10 year old yells at me, I try to beat him at his game. He will yell “Daaaaad” at the top of his voice and I’ll ignore him. “Shock horror” you may say… stay with me on this one there is good reason for that.

We have set up a Dad & son’s agreement that the emergency “Daaaaad” call is only to be used in real emergencies. Simple as that and what a great idea I thought. The only problem with this is that children have a different view of what an emergency is when compared with an adults perspective. For example three emergency calls that I have received are:

1. “I was feeling bored”
2. “Misha (his sister) wouldn’t let me have the remote control”
3. “There’s something I want you to see on the TV”

So as you can see the odds are stacked against you in parenting. To be honest if you’re not careful these kids will crack you up. The best parenting tip that I can give you is to develop a sense of humour… it will serve you well.

Nathan and I refined the “Daaaaad” call a little further. We agreed that from now on, I will know if it is a real urgent situation if he shouts dad twice. It’s like the five second rule; shout dad, wait five seconds and then shout again. What a genius idea! Boy, I wish that I thought of this sooner. Just think about it, now when I ignore the first cry for “Daaaaad” I won’t be hauled over the coals by the mummy police for ignoring my child (us dad’s have got to get creative).

Everything had been going well for a week and on Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen being chef. Chopped up some chicken breasts, diced the onions, crush the garlic and was half way through adding the spices when it happened… “Daaaaad”… one … two … three … four … five. There was no second shout.

“Yes! It’s another false alarm, my son finally understands who’s the boss around here.”

I finished marinating the chicken without any further shouts and enjoyed the rest of the day with the family. Nathan did not mention the earlier cry for dad. This did seem a little odd, but I didn’t want to raise the issue just in case.

It was later on that evening that we sat down to eat the rather tasty Jerk Chicken that the surprise hit me. My eyes were drawn to the fruit bowl on the table. To be more precise, one of the banana’s was expertly engraved with the word “banana!” The joke was on me after all.

Have you ever wondered how a child’s mind can be so creative? Mum and dad, watch out because sometimes kids do stuff that just makes you ponder “what would make them do that?”

You can see for yourself that parents can’t win ‘em all? On this occasion we all had a good laugh and Nathan did get a little ticking off from mum “you’re going to eat that banana yourself!” But a victory, maybe not this time.

Let’s continue to raise the next generation for success!

With much Daaaaad love

Donovan

Over to you

What’s your best way of handling your children’s false alarm calls? Have you got a secret parenting rule? Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

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