Day 41-Fix It

What is that one lesson all of us have received as children? DO NOT BREAK OR DESTROY ANYTHING. From the time we were babies and we knew not, the value of THINGS, the adults in the house have always hidden and protected the VALUABLE items in the house. Thats still ok. Even the toys that you received as a child, had to maintained well. Nothing should break. There was always a fear in all of us about what if something was broken and what if I am beaten up or scolded for.

On a day to day basis, a lot of things break or peel or wear due to use or just by mistake. What do we do as adults when that happens? If we are parents, we shout or express disappointment and let it go; or ; we just accept it and throw it away, promising the child to get another one soon (The sooner the replacement, if the breakage wasn't because of the child) . If we are teachers, we ask the child to keep the broken item aside and we try and mend it after all children leave the class.
Do we ever fix it then and there in front of the child?
How many times have you picked up the screwdriver and tightened the screw in front of the child? How many times have we stuck the pages of the torn book in front of the child?
How many times have you handed over a book and a glue stick and asked the child to stick the page?

By fixing /mending something then and there and in front of the child, we bright to light some major life lessons-
1. A stitch in time saves nine
2. Most things in the world can be fixed and we can do so ourselves if we put our mind to it
3. Every thing has a value and needs to be treated with respect. If it is possible to mend and reuse, one must do so.

I am prone to think that if children have this attitude towards things, they may extrapolate the same  lesson to other aspects of life as well.

Instead of ingraining a fear in the child of "NEVER make mistakes"(which we know is stupid and unrealistic), let us show the children how to fix problems if they arise?

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