The best is yet to be

Ethan was upset this evening. He was playing balloon-minton with David and lost. He was very upset and cried.

After he showered and calmed down, we had a one-to-one. Ethan was upset that he lost. But more than that, he felt that he was not good at anything. He always lost (out) to his brother and is not as good. Although we have long taken the stand that we are not comparing the two, and do our best to accentuate the positive and praise them for what they are good at, we also realize that comparison (among themselves) is inevitable.

I started off by telling him what he is good at. But he was unconsolable. Then we talked about how he was the most courteous boy in class, and the awards he received for being kind and helpful. Is it more important to God that a child get great marks or that he has good character such as kindness and concern? We talked about the story that they learnt in church recently about the rich lady who died and went to heaven only to find that her maid had a mansion but she only a wooden shack (thanks, pastor!).

We talked about trying our best and leaving the outcome to God. We also talked about the effort rather than the outcome. Just as in running, we train hard (effort) but cannot ascertain the outcome. But train we must, otherwise we are doomed to fail. Similarly, we have to study hard (train) or practice our swimming / abacus / MT so that we can improve and do well.

A confidence crisis, but we believe that the best is yet to be.

Ethan's volcano and hamster