Iremide my Friend

I have been privileged to interact with children within the ages of six months to eighteen years and I am beginning to further understand the unique traits common within the different age groups that parents might not notice due to their busy schedule except for observant ones. An example is Iremide who at the age of 36 months is clinging for attention even when he has his agemates around to play with. He bullies other kids (both those that are older and younger than himself). Iremide beats and fights at any given opportunity. I repelled the attitude at first but decided to pay a closer attention to him when he came around.

Iremide gets beaten by his parents anytime and every time he does anything wrong. His parents believe that not sparing the rod is the best way to correct his wrong doings. Sadly, his parents did not realize that the beatings were not correcting his wrong doings. In no time, the beatings meant nothing to him again and he was termed as stubborn by his parents. One Sunday morning, I decided to entice Iremide to a treat after he had been beaten by his parents and was sobbing profusely.

I decided to share my snacks with him. He was trying to get away as fast as he could but I carried him and decided to play with him. He was surprised and loosened up a little bit. Then I decided to watch a cartoon that addresses manners and the use of polite wordings with him on my telephone. He further relaxes and we sang the rhymes in the short video clip together. Iremide was so excited. Immediately his parents showed up, his countenance changed and I appealed to them to give me just a little time to round up with him.

Iremide became my friend after that incidence. People around wondered how I was able to tame him. I took it a step further to visit his family in their home and was surprised to find them watching a violent Indian movie where the act of violence and the use of guns were being watched on the screen. There was also a scene that has to do with cold murder and someone being trapped in a mortuary and being scared by ghosts of the dead. I had to take my leave as I was not comfortable with such movies as an adult.

The incidence that happened when I visited their house aided my decision to befriend Iremide’s mum. This is because he held on to me and I had to carry him throughout my stay in their house. What his parents are exposing him to is having a toil on his mental health. The beatings and what he was is exposed to at home has been haunting him. This gets him scared and clingy. I got some printed material for Iremide with a lot of painting and materials. I introduced it to him the next time I had the opportunity to connect with him.

He loved to read, write and color as recommended in the material. I then did a short video recording of myself and Iremide interacting with the materials and shared with his parents. I also pleaded with his parents to try and get him engaged with any of the materials anytime they watching their programs. It is exciting to learn that Iremide prefers to work on his printed materials than watching television with his parents. Recently, I was at their house and Iremide was in the room working on his material. He also learnt a lot about good habits from the printed materials. Myself and Iremide made progress without hurting his parents nor disapproving their parenting styles.