These days, Riley is in love with claw machines, or UFO catchers as some may call them. He developed this interest while we were on a holiday in Taiwan about three weeks ago. It was tough to avoid the ubiquitous machines especially at the night markets. They also appear at the unlikeliest of places such as underpass shopping belts and eateries. It was pretty inexpensive to play the claw machines in Taiwan, plus some of the toys were simply too cute to resist. We allowed Riley to play about five-10 rounds at each session and at such sessions, we serendipitously discovered this side of him.
Riley understands instructions pretty well for someone his age. Whenever we told him that we had to leave soon, he would hold on to his coin tightly and scrutinise each and every machine. As it was the last coin, he did not want to waste it on just any machine, but on one whose toys he truly, truly loved. He would make Simon walk around the machines while he scrutinised them and their contents intently. Sometimes, he would insert an imaginary token into the coin slot, move the joss sticks and put his hand through the hole to retrieve his invisible prize. And he would smile while he did those sequence of actions. I was so delighted by his vivid sense of imagination. All the reading, role-playing and talking to has paid off!
More importantly, I was deeply touched by this 18-month-old’ sensibility and prudence.
Often times, we had to coax him to insert the last token so that we could move on to our next destination 😉 Sometimes he would do so after he had found the right machine, other times he would keep the token in his hands for the rest of the day, saving it for his one true love. Of course we would keep an eye on him and stealthily take the coin away from him when he was distracted.
Back in Singapore, we thought his interest in claw machines would have subsided with passing time but boy were we wrong! When we got in bed for our bedtime storytelling routine,he would insert an imaginary token into a non-existent coin slot, air play some joss sticks, press an invisible button in mid-air and collect his “prize”. He did it with so much joy and happiness. It was very heartening for me to witness such pure contentment from him – conjuring up magical rewards from nothing but strong imagination and active recollection.
I believe Simon was also moved by what he saw because soon after, a parcel was delivered to our doorstep and yeap, there you go, a miniature claw machine nestled within the box. It was empty of course; we had to fill the contents ourselves.
When we showed the toy to Riley, he didn’t yelp in joy; neither did he clap nor jump. He was surprised beyond words and remained speechless for a while.
We gave him a token and to our surprise, he didn’t insert it into the coin slot. By this time, he had finally emerged from his daze and was smiling and clapping and yet, he refused to insert the coin into the slot.
Simon told him not to worry and that we would give him another token after he inserted the one in his hand. Upon hearing this, he released the token from his hand and began to play.
Again, I was so moved by his sensibility. At 18 months old, he could practise self-restraint for delayed gratification, something which many adults including myself find it hard to grapple with. I am so so proud of my little trooper.
Much unhappiness in the world is generated by discontentment and misalignment between expectations and reality .I thank God for his love and wisdom, and teaching my son contentment. Under His grace and wisdom, I hope Riley will grow to be a sensible boy, delighting in simple joys while pursuing character excellence.