Q 6. “A Learning Experience with My Daughter”: My oldest daughter, Tania, who was about nine at that time, and I were driving to see her grandmother. I remember thinking that with Tania, building an Emotional Bank Account was a key. So, I thought, “What can I do in the thirty minutes we have together to make deposits in her bank account?” You know, this took a bit of courage. I’m not much of a chatterer when we travel. Mostly I drive in silence. So, I was a bit nervous suggesting the game I came up with. As we started, I said, “Tania, why don’t we play a game. What we want to do is say in turn ‘I feel good about you because …’ or ‘I liked what you did because …’ The ‘because’ is important because then we know why the other person likes us. Okay? I’ll start.” So, I started. I said something about her. Then she paused and said something about me. After about three or four things, I had to start thinking. I love my child so much, but I was having difficulty thinking of specific actions that I loved about her. I was searching for things to say. Tania found it easier. After about five or six, I could tell she was looking at my life and seeing me and what I did. She was grateful for what I did, the walks to the park, the basketball in the driveway, the fixing of bicycle punctures, the way I woke her up in the mornings. She could see all of me. I was still struggling. Then, as I looked at this little girl’s life, really looked at her and what she did every day in our family, I started to see. I saw her hugs, her little words, her thank-yous. I saw how well she was doing at school and how polite she was. I told her I loved it when I came home, and she gave me a big hug. When we started digging and looking, we couldn’t stop. This was only a thirty-minute trip. We got to twenty-two, twenty-three items and then I had to call it off. I couldn’t think of anything else. Frankly, I was stunned by the game. I felt good on one hand but discouraged on the other. Good that Tania could see so much (she wanted to continue the game), discouraged that I couldn’t find more. The rest of the trip we spent chattering to each other. I think the game started a dialogue that I hadn’t had with her before. When we arrived, Tania jumped out of the car and raced into the house and that’s when my heart almost broke. “Nani, Nani Jan” she shouted. “Baba knows so many good things about me. I didn’t know he knew so many good things about me.” Answer the following questions: (8) A. How the author is trying to make deposits in his Emotional Bank Account with his young daughter? B. What habit/s out of “The Seven Habits” other than the Emotional Bank Account is demonstrated here and how?
