My Lil’ New Teacher

“A child gives birth to a mother” – sounds like a role reversal, isn’t it? I too didn’t believe it until I went through it myself!! Ever since little miss M has come in my life, things have changed 360 degrees and every day is a new learning experience.

As Paulo Coelho says, “A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” But I feel she has taught me many more things and its high time I should give her some credit.. ;). Here is a list of quite a few things:

1. Forgive and Forget: I feel this is the best quality in every child at this age. A child is so innocent that he/she tends to forget things easily, doesn’t keep any grudges in his heart like we adults. A minute back they may be fighting over a toy and the other minute they may be hugging. Like, there are times when I scold M for petty reasons and she gets upset with me too, like not talking and all, but after some time she forgets everything and behaves as if nothing had happened. I think if we all can practice this, life would get much simpler.
2. To be carefree and live life fully: When I look at M now, she is such a carefree bird and honestly, I envy her at times. She does whatever she feels like without bothering about anyone. As of now she has no worries, no hassles, no doubts, no regrets, no fears. Just pure innocence. I feel in today’s fast paced world, all of us are living our lives half-heartedly, there is so much pressure and tension all around be it related to finances or personal issues. What I have learnt from miss M is that come what may, I will not bother about what others think, I will try to find little joys around me, not care about the future so much and live and love my present life fully!!
3. To imagine and dream: Another thing that children do which makes their life simple is that they so easily believe. They believe in magic and fairytales. They have no problem coming up with imaginary playmates or imagining life to be amazing and fantastic. As adults, we need to move into the supernatural realm and start dreaming again. We need to create joy in our own lives. It’s a right and privilege we have as children of God, but it’s a decision we must choose to make. The other day M was playing with her hair clips and she opened them and said “mumma, see this is the mouth of a crocodile”, I was amazed by her imagination. I now know that to deal with her, I will have to be such imaginative and creative.
4. Boundless energy: Gosh, don’t know how much energy these kids have. You ask them to get up in the middle of the night for their favourite activity, and they are ready for it. I mean we adults get tired of running after them but they would never say die!! M is the last one to sleep in the entire house. Even after the lights go off, she has some or the other thing to do and finally she dozes off when she becomes extremely tired. I feel even if we adults take 10% of their energy, our life would be a lot more active and energetic.
5. To love unconditionally: Learn to give without expecting anything in return, for that is what real and unconditional love is all about, and that is what children can teach you. Parents love children for the sake of love only, without expecting anything – at least in the childhood stages. We love our friends/partners, etc., with some motive of usefulness. But that cannot be the case with children. They are so innocent, heavenly, and selfless, and pure. It is only the children who are loved, for the first time, selflessly.

And last but not the least, she has taught me to love and respect my parents all the more. Now I realise how much efforts they must have taken while upbringing me. The sacrifices, the time, the love, the patience, the list is just endless.

There are many other things which children teach us. That’s why it is said- ‘unless a person gets a child, he doesn’t become a perfect person’. Child is the source of immeasurable experiences. Observe him closely, react to him, and you will learn a lot!! So the list is huge and will take a lot more pages to finish. But as of now, my little new teacher has taught me these very important lessons of life. And I would not ever want to forget them and will try to practice them on daily basis for a simpler, better and a happier life!!

So, what does your child teach you??

I am Nitika Sipani, an interior designer by profession, full-time job as of now is that of a mother of a 2-year-old daughter (Myra) whom I dearly call ‘Little Miss M’! Of all the jobs till date, this one is the most challenging and every day is a new learning experience!! I enjoy writing and have developed it as a hobby, would like to become a freelance writer someday! You can connect with me on my blog: Juss lik dat.