Last week,
I met this little girl on my street. She told me it was her birthday a week ago. Naturally, I smiled and said, “Awwwwwn…Happy Birthday, dear!”
The very next day, she walked up to me again with a smiling face:
“So… where’s my birthday gift?”
I wasn’t ready for that 😂.
She kept haunting me for days with the same line, “My gift?” “My gift?” And honestly? I didn’t find it offensive at all. Instead, I kept thinking, “Where did this child get this kind of boldness?”
Because, me, growing up? Ha! Never!
In our day, asking directly was almost a sin… scratch that, it was a sin🤣
Uncles and aunties would visit, and you dare not linger in the sitting room too long. Staying there meant you were “looking for something.” That was the fastest way to collect punishment.😂
So, you’d just greet politely, slip away, and pray silently that they’d dash you money on their own. But ask out loud? God-forbid o🤣🤣
Now, as an adult, I see how much that upbringing shaped me.
I hesitate to ask for help.
I’d rather hustle on my own than open my mouth and say, “Please, can you help me?”
Meanwhile, here’s this little girl on my street, bold, free, asking for her gift like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Her boldness made me wonder: what if asking isn’t greed? What if it’s just trust? What if it’s faith? Even the Bible says, “Ask, and you shall receive.”
But at the same time… maybe our parents weren’t wrong either. Maybe they were teaching us discipline, self-respect, and the ability to wait for things without demanding them.
So now, I find myself stuck in between. Was our upbringing too strict, or was it necessary? Is this little girl’s boldness admirable, or does it cross the line?
And maybe that’s the real question for today:
What do you think? Is it better to raise children not to ask, or to let them boldly voice out their needs? And as adults, where do we draw the line between “asking” and “entitlement” and begging?😂
I’d love to hear your perspective. 💙
It is not bad to raise children who are bold but wisdom and manners must guide that boldness.
There’s a different between Begging, Asking and Boldness!
Let me start with BOLDNESS, boldness come’s in when someone is trying to intimidate you then you voice it out with boldness and let the person knows you can’t be intimidated when you’re right or do nothing wrong.
Begging is being liability relaying on someone rather than you working hard to end respect, then when life begin to frustrate you, and you start begging for urgent 2k😂 and anything I’ll manage
Asking is when you’re in need of something and you ask for help, not dey boss dey boss your boy/girl loyal….ooo drop something for guy make guy chop biko🤣😂
So what are my saying, it is very wrong for the small girl to beg for birthday gift, till the extend of making it I big deal or inconveniencing someone with her present, someone she doesn’t know not even her family member it is very very wrong in my opinion
Absolutely! I agree with you. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t think it’s appropriate to raise kids to ask; let it be given willingly before entitlement sets in.
My upbringing was so strict but it was necessary. It taught me discipline, self respect and contentment. I mean you dare not hang around the parlour while they are visitors. My Dad’s eyes alone will make you disappear instantly. Like he doesn’t need to say the word o.
I was taught to be content even if I had nothing or not everything. I thought I wasn’t loved by my parents because of their strict rules but these rules have shaped I and my siblings. I mean the girl you met was damn bold to ask for a gift. Then, I wouldn’t dare ask not because I wasn’t bold but because I wasn’t brought up in the environment of asking.
Till tomorrow, I still don’t ask freely, I put a lot in consideration.
You need to ask for help when in need but for how long?
Too much asking can turn to begging.😂😂
Then entitlement? I hate when people feel like they’re entitled. I mean it’s your birthday must you get gifts? Gifts are given freely and you’ll tend to cherish it more. But having that feeling that on birthdays you must get gifts, ahh forgerrit. You ain’t started.
I still have a lot to say but let me end here for now.
There’s a different between Begging, Asking and Boldness!
Let me start with BOLDNESS, boldness come’s in when someone is trying to intimidate you then you voice it out with boldness and let the person knows you can’t be intimidated when you’re right or do nothing wrong.
Begging is being liability relaying on someone rather than you working hard to end respect, then when life begin to frustrate you, and you start begging for urgent 2k😂 and anything I’ll manage
Asking is when you’re in need of something and you ask for help, not dey boss dey boss your boy/girl loyal….ooo drop something for guy make guy chop biko🤣😂
So what are my saying, it is very wrong for the small girl to beg for birthday gift, till the extend of making it I big deal or inconveniencing someone with her present, someone she doesn’t know not even her family member it is very very wrong in my opinion