Being a mother is not just about giving birth to a child, is it? As our children grow, they learn from us but more importantly, we parents too learn from them.
Adult minds often complicate a lot of things. And it takes our little ones to simplify the mess and prioritise the most important things in our busy lives.
I thought I would pen down what I have learnt from my little daughter in the last two years. Of course, this is work in progress.
1. Love fully
Whatever relationships we might have had in the past are all conditional love with a quid pro quo thrown in. With her it has been unconditional and all heart. From the word go. No matter what she does – or sometimes doesn’t do – I just can’t stop loving her.
2. Trust implicitly
I love the game 1, 2, Jump. She just trusts and jumps into my arms – no matter the height. Is it possible to trust someone so implicitly? Yes, it is. And I love that feeling. This puts on my shoulders a lot of responsibility but I am game. If she can trust me fully, the least I can do is to be there to catch her – and be her safety net in all her life situations.
3. Behave yourself
I will admit that as parents we haven’t been at our best behaviour even when she is around. We have fought and argued while she looks on innocently with her eyes wide open and then sweetly comes and says Mummy – Papa. These two simple words bring us crashing down on earth from our high horses. It’s almost as if she has said – behave yourself.
4. Keep Calm
Having a little one in today’s age of nuclear families and working parents does bring with it its set of small calamities. This one is still a lot of work for us – but with every battle fought and won I am learning the futility of getting all worked up.
Absent maids, fevers, coughs, colds, sleepless nights – all this is ephemeral. Keep calm and this too shall pass, is the most powerful mantra guys.
Finally – let me end by saying that life teaches us a lot of lessons – both formal in the form of degrees and informal in the form of experiences. The most enjoyable lesson is the mommy lesson – it is full of love and laughter, joy and sorrow, ups and downs, highs and lows. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in this world.
