I see it as my responsibility to take care of the young ones around me, giving them a good example to follow and helping them to make good decisions, but sometimes they don't want to be told; they want to do things themselves; they think they are capable of making great decisions without anyone policing them around.
Aunty, you don't have to always tell me what to do! My sister-in-law expressed herself angrily. Am I that poor a communicator? I questioned my personality at that moment. To her, I am not even her blood sister, nor am I her mom, so why the whole policing up and down?
You see, puberty is that season when a young girl or boy tends to be rebellious because of the changes they experience in their body. They are getting more mature, making more friends, and being aware of their bodies. In that stage, if you are not careful, they will think that you want to control them.
When our young girls and boys begin to approach the puberty stage, sometimes they claim to know better when you are explaining things to them. For some parents, they handle the situation harshly by beating the child, which may not solve the issue but makes it worse. For some loving parents, they tend to understand that their attitude is due to the puberty they are experiencing and thus find the best way to approach them. Even though it hurts to see your once-loving child be rebellious, acting like they don't need your assistance anymore because they have grown up to take decisions on their own and behave as they see fit, it's never a time to give up, complain, or forcefully send the child to live in a boarding school when originally you didn't plan to. Some parents even go as far as looking for a very strict school to keep the child where he or she could get disciplined very well because they feel that their attitude is getting out of hand and thus more discipline is needed.
The question?
Have there ever been a point in your life that you looked at yourself and said, "I need to stop telling him/her what to do?"
When my sister-in-law lived in my home, there was a time I started noticing this puberty craziness in her behavior, as I explained above. All my efforts to politely correct her and get her to live a more responsible life proved abortive. She made lots of friends within a short time, both boys and girls, and suddenly became so disrespectful. It was as if I started living with a stranger in my home. I wasn't comfortable with her attitude, so I didn't stop correcting her until she rebelled one day by using harsh words on me.
At first, I thought of allowing her to live her life, and probably when she makes mistakes, she might learn the hard way, which I did for a short while. This is because her level of disrespect was getting out of hand, and it hurts knowing that I meant well for her after all, but something happened one day...
I went to the office but returned earlier than usual. Upon opening my gate, I saw a young guy in my home with her, almost raping her. The young guy covered her mouth and was trying hard to have his way when I suddenly opened the door. Of course he ran away like the thief he is, and I could feel the relief from my sister-in-law. She cried for hours and thanked me for coming home just at the right time; if not, she would have had a bad experience with the guy unplanned. Without digging deeper into the story, this single experience made her see the reasons why I was always correcting her and getting her to make a good decision for her life.
Yeah,I needed to stop telling her what to do at some point, but fortunately, a situation unfolded that made her see my point of view, and she was convinced.
Thanks for reading through! Let me know what you think 🤗
This is my response to the Dreemport challenge and Thinkers Corner prompt for this week, hosted by @kenechukwu97. Find the prompt link here.
