I must write about this. You’ll see why.

My youngest, Micah, is a very interesting child. He makes us laugh a lot – things he says, his reasoning, and some of his actions. A few days back, I heard him yell at Nathan, so I called them to find out what the problem was. Turns out Micah saw a bug near his online school setup in the parlor and asked Nathan to help him kill it. Nathan refused, maintaining that everyone should face their fears. He had a point. So, I asked Micah to go and kill the bug or avoid it. He didn’t like the verdict, so he started crying.

My husband went down to see what the problem was and resolved it. I wasn’t quite sure how he did it and my attention was elsewhere at that time so I couldn’t find out. Some time later, Micah barged into the office with a glint in his eyes. ‘What’s up?’ I asked. ‘Mummy, I have one hundred naira.’ He said with excitement. ‘How?’ I probed. ‘Daddy said he’ll pay me one hundred naira for every bug I kill, apart from ants.’ I said, ‘Okay, great!’

Over the next two days, he showed up from time to time to say N200, N300, N400 and do a victory dance. We told him we need evidence going forward and he quickly got a broom and a packer to present us with the proof of his last kill. This morning, he made the following declaration – I used to be afraid of bugs but now every time I see them, I see the dollar sign on them. Very funny.

I love the way my husband handled this. He gave Micah a valuable substitute for his fear. And I love how Micah approached it. He changed his perspective from “bugs that I fear” to “dollars running around and climbing walls”.

How do you see the problems that are before you? Can you focus on the value that comes from resolving them? That way while you work through the issues, you’ll celebrate each milestone.