Roller Coaster

i had a hilarious conversation with a group of mums this week and it was about roller coasters. One mum asked if my family and i tried the roller coasters during our last holiday in Tokyo. Are you kidding? We tackled ALL the roller coaster rides in Tokyo Disneyland ;-) She shared that the last time she went on one, she "nearly died", LoL. And so she's naturally worried when her kids want to go on one. So much so that her kids complained that she doesn't ever allow them to try. Some other mums are exasperated that their boys don't have the courage to try in the first place.

Right, we can laugh at our "irrational" fears - like being flung out of the roller coaster ;-) But how we deal with our fears will probably be a life lesson to our kids. I often see parents hovering around the swimming pool when their kids are learning how to swim under an instructor AND repeating the instructor's instructions. I don't know, if i were the instructor, i would think you don't trust me to do a good job and if i were the kid, i would be scared because my parents don't trust the instructor to do a good job, lol. I see kids howling even more when their parents do just that.

There is just so much we can protect them lah. I told a mum frankly that her over-protectiveness in the earlier years has probably led to her teenage son not daring to try the ride. Like it or not, our kids observe and store in their minds our responses to issues and imitate them when a similar situation arises.

i no parenting expert lah. But if you ask me about roller coasters, i'd say try this:

- deal with your own fears first. Is it irrational? If hundreds ahead of you in the queue have already gone on the ride and landed safety back on earth, it should be safe lah.

- encourage your kids to try it out and cheer them on when they are done. afterall, they are braver than you, lol