The routine!

Daphne's routine in the evening is a good round of exploration in our garden. It is when the evening meal is served, which would make her return to her kennel yard on her own. Otherwise she is happy to be moving about doing different things she is fond of doing. 

A few days back, I called her to come in to the kennel;  she stopped outside the kennel yard, and refused to move in, in spite of calling her a few times. She had a reluctant face and kept looking at me as if she was not ready to go in. 

That is when I wondered if she strolled enough in the grass! When I asked her, 'want to go to the grass', she ran to nibble the grass in the lawn. 

Amidst the other routines, she is used to strolling in the lawn, which she might have  missed on that  day. 

When I called her after ten minutes, she readily came to enter the kennel yard. 

Anna and I  have got familiar with the routines of Dulcie and Daphne.  We know from their body language some of their needs and wants. 

One walk Daphne expects every morning is to walk with me to open the gate and collect the newspaper from the gate. When I let her out of the Kennel yard in the morning, she goes around the house and comes to me looking in the direction the gate! She would indicate her displeasure by sitting down if that is denied to her. 

I have had occasions when parents would talk about disobedience  when a pre-school  child takes time to respond to what parents might want him to do. I am of the opinion that a child might be occupied with something that  he is not yet ready to move on to what parents might want him to do. 

I remember a parent telling their son, that you have ten more minutes to play. Will you come in when I call you! That was what happened after ten minutes.. The child can also negotiate for an extra time, which is also the right of the child. This parent told me that the time to go for playing and returning are not stressful, ever since they introduced the conversation about it and offered willingness to negotiate.  

The  parent-child relationships would improve if parents have a mind tuned to honour the interests of the child to the extent that is possible. 

Anna and I learn about the canine ways of responding and relating from the behaviour of our dogs. 

I wonder if parents would consider that their children are resources for them to learn more about parenting practices!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)