A while back, I did a list of Top 5 Asian Parenting Faux Pas (Passes?) and one of them was to threaten kids with scary uncles. Being one to practice what I preach, I’ve made it a point never to scare them with policemen or hobos.
Regarding the former, we tell them that policemen are very kind and helpful, so if they ever get lost or need to rescue a cat from a tree, they should not hesitate to approach a friendly neighborhood policeman. As for hobos, we buy them a cup of coffee and remind them to say no to drugs.
The other thing you should know is that my son has a thing for big red buttons. Like the power ON/OFF button on remotes, or the emergency alarm button in the lifts, which he has to press repeatedly. It’s like he can’t help it and if left to his own devices, would probably end up as an evil villain with a secret lair filled with giant red apocalyptic buttons. We’re getting him tested for villainous tendencies.
Several nights ago, we were at the airport doing our usual rounds and on our way down an escalator, Tru suddenly reached out and pressed the emergency stop button. The one that gets you fined like $5,000,000 or thrown in jail or something.
Naturally, the escalator came to an abrupt halt and the husband said “OH NO TRU! You can’t press that! Now we’ve got to explain to the police what happened.” Before he completed his sentence, Tru promptly burst into tears and in the minute that followed, proceeded to have a complete meltdown. In between sobs, I could make out the words “I’m sorry…don’t want police to catch me.”
As far as we can remember, we’ve never even once used the police as a threat but he must have overheard us talking when we got that ill-fated warning letter from the police.
We hugged him and said it’s ok, we would never let anyone (no, not even the police) catch him. Like if there was a grizzly bear attack, the bear would have to first eat the husband, followed by…ok, let’s hope the bear gets sufficiently nourished by then and decides to lie down for a bit. Or if anyone needed to take the fall and go to jail, it would be the husband first, then me. Although the husband says I should take this one because I could blog in jail anyway or maybe even find the time to write a masterpiece like Jeffrey Archer.
Anyway, Tru didn’t seem entirely convinced because he spent the rest of the evening pretending to sleep in the stroller looking noticeably subdued.
I like to consider life’s episodes as lessons and this one would be to never use the police to threaten my son. Or to buy a police uniform. I’m still pondering that one.
18 Comments
*breathe*
No worries, my BOY would have done the exact same thing. Whenever the emergency button in the lifts ring….it’s just us coming home really…
Those red/yellow/black knobs/buttons/bells need to be placed higher!:)
Hahaha ok now I feel better. I think my kids are like bulls – drawn to red objects.
I used to do that when I was young! Press and run was my strategy when mum’s not looking. Yup.. Guilty as charged and my mum had no clue what I was up to. Haha.
And there is probably a reason why people scare their kids with something.. Haha.
Exactly! Sometimes we’re desperate enough to resort to whatever works. :/
…and then what happened? do you press the button to get the escalator moving again/ask the security guard to re-press it/all of you chaboh first before anyone comes along? (just curious to know….*LOL)
The escalator was at a rather quiet corner of T2 and we tried looking for a policeman to help but couldn’t find any. We did explain to the others who were bummed to find the escalator not working. Hopefully the security guard managed to get it going..
Hahahaha, I hate to admit but I threaten my niece with the police all the time and it works like a charm to get her to act like a decent citizen in public and not be the brat that she is at home.
Hahaha, nice one! =)
Hey, it’s not fun to stop the escalator abruptly. What if there’s a pregnant woman on the escalator.
Totally agree that it’s not fun. Thankfully, there weren’t anyone on the escalator when it happened and hopefully Tru doesn’t ever do it again. He seemed sufficiently traumatized by the experience.
Poor Tru!! I would really be traumatised too… especially with any mention of “policeman’ at the scene. I’m sure he’ll remember it for a long time!
Oh gosh! There’s just something about those red buttons that scream “Press me!” especially for kids, who can’t resist buttons! At least Tru seems to be repentant…
Oh! I didn’t know we can get fined for stopping the escalator. It never occurred to me as Ethan never seemed bothered by red buttons. But thank goodness nothing ‘bad’ happened when it was abruptly stopped and am sure Tru wont be repeating that ever.. :)
i can dress up in my police uniform for cell group on thurs if you bring tru. then he can associate police to me haha that might be better
You have a police uniform?? Is it somewhere I should not be going?
i think you should show him the latest major escalator accident that killed a someone and injure many others involving the escalator… it’s in china though… very very very dangerous.
I think it’s a bit frightening to show Tru that news. He is still a small kid. I believe he has learnt his lesson after daddy and mommy’s education.
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