Wednesday Words – To Teach Kids Independence or Logic?

We are always telling our kids, right from wrong, but at some point you want to let them decide what they want to do, and also let them do that, even if that means, that they are doing it wrong.

My kids are independent more or less in completing their daily chores. They actually exceed my expectations. They dress themselves be it pants, shirts or dresses. They put their socks and shoes by themselves. They are potty trained. They brush themselves, except Renne because he prefers eating paste. 😛

My life is easy, right? Well, pretty much. Except when this teaching them to be independent results in them doing thing illogically and me trying to explain why their way is the wrong way. Don’t get me? Well, to give you an example, I taught my boys how to put on the pants. Yippee!!!

They learned it pretty fast. Then Renne my youngest boy realized it would be better if he wore his pants wrong side. That means zipper on the bum side. Technically it’s safer; he won’t suffer with ‘stuck in zippie’ moments. 😎 I did tried to explain to him that it’s the wrong way to wear a pant. But, you know when a kid accomplish something as big like this, they rarely would agree to undermine their accomplishment.

So, he declined. Just refused to put his pants front facing. NO.

After, a big NO, I realized let it be. He will learn on his own. So, I took him outside in his same fashion debacle. I did get many heads turned, not at me but at him, and then me, as if saying, your kid is wearing his pants backwards, didn’t you noticed? 😛

Their Gym nanny pointed it out too, and when I explained the situation, she was laughing too. Well, this independence brigade didn’t end there, they put their shoes wrong; left in right and vice versa. Tisha, my daughter do change her way when I point it out but boys are too adamant to change anything that they have done on their own.

What should I do? Shall I return to old ways, where I was putting on their clothes or shall I just let them enjoy their little accomplishments, even though they look foolish to the world? 😐