Wow, Look At The Moon

I’m out for a walk and spot the moon. I stop in my tracks look at it in wonder and say ‘wow, look at the moon. It looks so beautiful and bright and round.’ I look around for my one year old; he’s not there. He’s tucked into bed now.

Before he came along, I don’t remember when I last found the moon beautiful or the sound of the waves joyful. I don’t remember staring at the trees moving in the breeze, nor do I remember watching the birds flying against the breeze so skillfully that they appear to be still.

The last time I found wonder in all these things I was a child myself.

Life’s come a full circle. Now, most places I go to I am accompanied by two large eyes filled with wonder. He looks at everything as though he is seeing it for the first time. Trying to place things, trying to fit in pieces of the puzzle, trying to get my attention as he asks me if he has guessed right.

Like when he saw the moon for the first time. We were in Kerela on the beach. Before that for 3 months Mumbai was covered in monsoon clouds and before that he was too young to fathom the moon. He saw the moon. It was bright and round. He looked at it and pushed me with his body, his aah’s becoming more insistent until I looked at what he was looking at. He was beholding the moon with wonder and asking what it was.

‘It’s the moon’, I said. ‘You know, from your book, Good night moon?’ I went on to recite goodnight moon from memory.

Parenting has a lot of highs and lows. There are days when your yesterday baby, today toddler has tantrums enough to make you want to pull your hair out. Mine is yet only beginning toddlerhood and I know I am in for a rough ride.

Of course the highs are many. And one of them is that you get to experience everything again for the first time. Through your child you can see the moon for the first time, you can take joy in getting wet in the rain, you can learn all about fairies and bunnies, and Santa, and twinkling stars all over again. You can believe in magic and the tooth fairy.

Things have sure changed since I became a mother. Small things make me supremely happy. A giggle from my child turns me into a crazy clown as I try replicating the action that made him giggle in the first place hoping to turn it into full fledged laughter. A smile is not far away anymore and it’s hard to be moody when you’re so happy.

I suppose it’s these little things that make being a parent completely worthwhile. And then when they’re older I suppose it’s the memory of these little things.

Thanks for reading. Do you find that you appreciate the moon and the flowers more than before? Write to me in the comments.

Aloka Gambhir is a new mom (since October 2012). She is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast and a health and fitness blogger since 2011. She is a Mumbai mom following an alternative lifestyle called the paleo/primal or evolutionary lifestyle. She is passionate about helping fellow moms follow their instincts to a healthier lifestyle for themselves and their family by questioning the rules and conventional wisdom on her blog: www.wholesomemamma.in