My 7 year old daughther had unfinished homework to complete last night.
She had only announced it after dinner, having forgotten about it earlier when we got home, and it was already nearing her bedtime.
This is uncommon as her homework is usually completed in the after-school care center in the afternoons, and by the time we get her after work, she and her older brother would just need to prepare their school bags for the next day, have dinner and have the rest of the night to do as they wish, be it television, games or reading, before their bedtime at 9pm.
So today we had an extra task to attend to, and it being a weekday, we had to push off her bedtime to after her homework was completed.
I insisted that we have her finish it, thinking it would be good lesson for her to prioritize her schoolwork and to show her that consequences of not completing work would be that her free time at home are taken up too.
But not only that, I stayed by her side at the dining table while she did her schoolwork , until she finished it, accompanying her to give her a sense of motherly support.
She was initially teary-eyed when I found her sitting on the dining table with her work.
I told her mama was here with her, and I equipped her with ‘study / concentration’ music from my phone’s Spotify app.
A hair band to pull back her hair from getting in her eyes.
A cup of cold water ( I thought the cold would keep her energy up).
And a portable table lamp to give extra light over her papers to help with her concentration.
Plus, three sharp pencils, so she could immediately replace them once the one she was using became blunt. Speed, i assumed, was the contribution here.
Her lamp
Finally she wrote her last sentence.
And it was almost 11pm by the time she was done.
She packed her homework into her bag, and I gave her a goodnight hug and kissed her, and said good job on finishing her work.
We then brought her to her bedroom to sleep.
Why is this worth noting down in a blog entry.
That night I had put off other housework and my own leisure time to be with her, hoping she will remember that mummy was with her and that she was loved, supported and prioritized, and that academic responsibilities are not to be diminished.
We also did this for my 10 year old son, as he too neglected a school essay assignment a few nights ago. He did his work on his study table and I sat on his bed, folding clothes with his dad, both of us accompanying him.
It sounds like a small thing but I think that when children sees and understand that their parents are intentionally giving them the time, presence and the emphasis on their academic work, they too will feel loved and supported, and to see through that their schoolwork are done well.
I’m not a child psychologist but my motherly instincts figured that this will be good for their own mental health, on how to manage responsibilities and also on how to show love and support to their own family.
My hope is that they will grow from these small episodes in their life, and tired as I may be at the end of the workday, my kids are still the priority.