Friday, June 9, 2017

Contentment vs entitlement

Recently I've been reading a book called " Raising grateful kids in an entitled world" by Kristen Welsh. It was recommended by Angela, probably after seeing my entries about raising my kids despite the world temptations.


It was assuring to know that mr choo and i are on the right track, insisting on the things we want our kids to know and be thankful for.
One of the first few lessons the book talked abt was that entitlement first come from the house. When we parents / adults act like we are entitled to some things, the kids will register and follow and have certain expectations subsequently in their growing up yrs. One of the examples given was how a family travel and stayed in a nice hotel, and was very happy on the first day. However, on the 2nd day, when the housekeeping failed to clean the room within the stated time, the parents started to make a fuss etc. Sadly, this is an example that we are guilty of too.
That's why during the current trip to KL for our church camp, I kept reminding myself not to expect too much from the accommodations. Uncle choo had chosen to book a cheap service apartment (without consulting me) few mths ago. I checked out the reviews and most of the reviews are actually quite jialat. We had the option to cancel our reservation and pay $150, and book the expensive hotels or juz go ahead with it. In the end, we decided to go ahead with it. Finances are tight and the cheap accommodation was within our budget. I prayed before we reach the place, and also told the kids many times that it's a service apt, not hotel standard. When we finally got to our room, it was not done up  (partly bcoz we were early). Thick cigarette smell filled the rooms, which the housekeeper assured us that it will be removed during house cleaning. I was chilled about it. Coz even though the rooms were chui, at least I don't see cochroaches flying ard (as per reviews). Midway upon loading our luggages, the housekeeper told us that another room, which is better, is ready and would recommend we take that instead.
It felt like divine intervention  when we went up to the new room. It felt like an upgrade from "hotel 81" standard to penthouse standard, to which Mr choo and i are grateful for. After settling in, I told the girls that we wasn't sure if there would b housekeeping throughout the whole stay bcoz this ultimately isn't a hotel. Thus, it's impt that we try to keep thr place as livable as possible for the next 5 days. We took turns to clean up thr place after using, making sure we don't leave food crumbs around.
It's the change of mindset, which makes us ever grateful for what we have. We were grateful for the upgrade and becoz we didn't felt entitled to housekeeping, which eventually was provided, we were even more grateful for that. Even when the housekeeping was late on day 3, it was fine.  We took the chance to do more shopping and spend time with the kids. There wasn't a phone avail in the room, so we really don't know when or if someone would b coming to clean. But if we are contented with the small things in life, anything above and beyond is a bonus. And when the kids see the parents adopting a contented attitude, they will also start to appreciate the smaller things in life.
More thoughts abt the book in subsequent posts..

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