My daughter Omanibe was use to wearing her shoes the wrong feet, she’s very independent and she’s in the class of “I want to do it myself”. I don’t have any problems with her putting her shoes the wrong way, especially if it’s Crocs because I know she’ll learn to figure it out as she grows.
One day, after wearing her shoes the wrong way again, I was just looking at how she didn’t even notice, how she was just innocently doing her thing, So, I asked myself, have I actually sat with this child of mine to teach her how to wear her shoes the right way? even though I know the dad has made efforts teaching her how to wear it the right way.
Then, I called her, Omanibe, I can see you have put your shoes on by yourself, you even picked the shoes that matches your dress, nice! Now let’s see what we can do about putting your shoes on the right way, we both sat on the carpet, l asked her to take her shoes off her legs, which she did, l intentionally positioned the shoe the wrong way, I drew a funny fish that got us laughing and also showed her a better photo of a fish from my phone, then, I asked her ‘’what does this shoes look like’’? and she responded “fish” then, I said before you wear your shoes, check if it looks like a fish. If it does, then, it’s wrong, so what do you think you can do, I asked? She said, “Change it.” We practiced it a couple of times, Lo and behold, that was it, since then, even if she accidentally puts her shoes on wrongly, because most times she’s in a hurry, she recognizes it herself and changes it.
These are some of the reasons our children need us in their lives, they need us to teach them, If I didn’t take out time to teach her, perhaps she would have been putting it on the wrong way till date. Remember, what ruins a child is not what parents thought them, but those things they fail to teach.
What is that thing your child is struggling with? Are you that perfectionist that’s always trying to fix your child’s mistakes? Or are you that parent who sees only fault in your child? or are you that parent that says well, I want to correct you constructively? or are you the type that says, is fine, she’s only only being a child and she’ll learn when she’s ready?
Dear intentional parents, if negativity, mistakes, faults, wrong, errors are what you see in your child, it is high time you changed your approach. Let’s even think about it, is there anything wrong if your child wears the wrong feet of shoes all day?
Remember she’s a child, is natural and part of her growth and development, instead of you doing the n^gging that will affect her self -esteem or make her feel I’m not good enough, why not take out time to teach her, sacrifice your precious time in teaching her and give her the opportunity to make mistakes, learn from her mistakes and progress. All what your child needs from you is your time and patience.
