Hi everyone, I'm Jenny.
Welcome to ChinesePod!
We're very happy to have a special guest with us today!
She's here to share her experience of being a mother with us.
Could you please introduce yourself?
Thank you Jenny. Hi everyone，my name is 刘萍，
I'm the mother of two children.
Two children, are they boys or girls?
They're both girls.
My elder daughter is five, and my younger daughter is three.
Wow, five and three
are both very challenging ages.
Could you share some of your experiences with us?
Of course，right, just as Jenny said...
five and three years old, they're both extremely challenging ages.
Because kids this age can make a fuss at any time.
Sometimes, they don't listen to a thing I say.
During these times I'm always thinking, how can I properly discipline them while also
expressing my unconditional love.
无条件的爱 (Unconditional Love)
Could you explain to us what unconditional love is?
For you, what is unconditional love?
That's a very good question.
Let me think about a good answer.
I remember a story that my teacher told me when I was in the course of a positive discipline.
I'll share this little story with everyone.
The story is about a six year old boy.
Every time he went to the bathroom，
he would leave some urine stains on the toilet seat.
His mother got upset every time she saw this.
So she asks "could you keep the bathroom clean?"
But the boy just wouldn't listen to his mother.
Mom tried different ways to convince him, however, nothing worked out.
and the boy would leave a mess in the bathroom every time.
Afterwards, his mother secretly called a counselor.
The counselor told her
"You need to connect with your child before you try and correct their behaviour"
Your tone must be gentle yet firm.
When you're disciplining your child, you also have to express your unconditional love.
After listening, things became clear for the mother.
She went home and waited for an opportunity to try it with her son.
One day, the opportunity finally came.
The boy once again made a mess of the bathroom.
This time, the boy waited in the living room for his mother
to come and scold him as usual.
The boy waited for a long time, but his mother still didn't scold him.
So he walked up to his mother and looked up at her.
His mother knelt down,
looked into the boy's eyes and said：“Do you know how much I love you?”
The boy replied，“I don't know, mommy”
His mother said，“I love you, I love you so much! The love I have for you is unconditional“
”Even if you make a mess on the toilet seat every day,
even if you do it everyday，I'll still love you unconditionally.“
After hearing this, the boy thought long and hard.
It seemed...there was a change in his heart.
Afterwards, his mother was surprised to find
the boy never made a mess in the bathroom ever again.
Whenever he'd go to the bathroom, he would always make sure to keep in clean.
I think it's a really good story, it makes me feel...
It makes me feel that mother's love.
The thing we're talking about, unconditional love
Who do you think has this kind of unconditional love?
I feel the love parents have for their children is unconditional.
The love children have for their parents is also unconditional.
What kind of love do you think is unconditional?
In my opinion, God's love.
God's love is unconditional.
Another thing I thought of asking, a teacher's love; is that unconditional?
What do you think?
I think if it's a good teacher,
they should have unconditional love for their students.
Regardless of whether the student's grades are good or bad.
Everybody is good for something.
So, a teacher should provide unconditional love for all their students.
Only then, can they be called a good teacher.
Sometimes I feel that a teacher's love is conditional.
Because a teacher's love wants their students to do well on tests.
That is, if the test results aren't good, the students may be punished.
Or...the unconditional love between parents feels like...
sometimes it comes with expectations.
So, I think of it like this...
Everyone has a different perspective on unconditional love.
So I think the story you told us today was really rewarding.
I really hope everyone was able to take something from this story.
Thank you, Jenny. Let's all learn how to be better parents together.
What we learned today was "无条件的爱" (Unconditional Love).
Could you create a sentence for us, with "无条件的爱"?
The easiest would be, make sure to tell children often;
"The love I have for you is unconditional"
See you next time.