Children are fascinated by the ordinary
and can spend timeless moments
watching sunlight play with dust.
Their restlessness they learn from you.
It is you who are thinking of there
when you are here.
It is you who thinks of then
instead of now.
Stop.
Let your children become the teachers,
and you become the student.
~ This is an extract reproduced from Chapter 26 - Become the Student, from the book The Parent's Tao Te Ching - A New Interpretation by William Martin.
and can spend timeless moments
watching sunlight play with dust.
Their restlessness they learn from you.
It is you who are thinking of there
when you are here.
It is you who thinks of then
instead of now.
Stop.
Let your children become the teachers,
and you become the student.
~ This is an extract reproduced from Chapter 26 - Become the Student, from the book The Parent's Tao Te Ching - A New Interpretation by William Martin.
***
My son Meharaj is almost 16 months old now. He runs around and keeps falling often. He smiles and laughs a lot more. He can now climb up the beds and sofas with fair dexterity. He even tries climbing the steps of the staircase with assistance. This makes him happy. He keeps blabbering Pa-Pa, Ba-Ba, and Tay-tee-eh. A limited vocabulary, but he makes us understand his needs clearly with these three words/phrases and lot of other shrill sounds. He understands things little better. Like when I put on my shoes in the morning, he knows I am going out. He expresses his wish to go out with me by raising his arms and crying at times. He understands the ringing of the door-bell and run towards the door, whenever it rings. He is extremely moody. At times, he will just be with me and ignore his mother and at other times, he gives me the cold shoulder. He has a cute way of saying no to things. He nods his head the other way in a cute manner, when he doesn't want to come to me or eat more. And he has learned to throw a tantrum when required.
When I had held him for the first time in my hands, I had experienced unbridled joy. I had written about it here. When we celebrated his first birthday, I wrote about some of our father-son rituals here. Whenever I come home after office, all my stress and worries just melt away, the moment I pick him up. This part of his childhood is precious, when he is special in his world of two people - his parents. His world would have expanded by the same time next year, as he would have started his preschool by then. He would always remain special in our world, which is him.
The extract reproduced above, is the reason for writing this post. Here are the five things, I learned from Meharaj :
1. Enjoy the mundane - As we grow up, we forget the joy of doing simple things. Meharaj feels really happy just opening and closing drawers and throwing things around.
2. Move on - Grown-ups tend to cling on to things. We feel pain even when the reason of the pain doesn't exist. Two weeks ago, when Meharaj was being extra naughty he spilled the hot green tea his mother was having. Some drops fell on his hand. He cried a lot till the time he felt pain and he was his happy self soon. He loves his mother a lot, unconditionally.
3. Be curious - We leave our sense of wonder behind as we grow up. Nothing excites us. Meharaj is curious about everything. He follows me to the toilet as well to see what I do inside. It is a task to keep him out.
4. Don't hide your emotions - We stifle our laughs and wipe off our tears to fit in. Meharaj doesn't do that. He expresses everything. He remains silent and inexpressive when his grandparents video-call him. But when I travel, and video-call him in the evenings, he performs our shared silly routine with great enthusiasm. He puts the back of his hand in his mouth and makes inexplicable sounds and expect me to do so. And I do it.
5. Take risks - We stop taking risks as we grow up. We have our comfort zones. Meharaj takes risks. He tries to climb things - tables, chairs etc. at the risk of falling. He trusts us completely to stop him from falling. At times, he falls. He cries. We comfort him. And he climbs again.
As I wrote this post, he closed my laptop once, jumped on and off my lap multiple times and ate a tiny portion of a pancake. Meharaj has a silky, dense and unruly mop of hair, which shines in the sunlight. I enjoy running my hands through it. His two front upper teeth makes his goofy laugh so adorable. I love him.
My son Meharaj is almost 16 months old now. He runs around and keeps falling often. He smiles and laughs a lot more. He can now climb up the beds and sofas with fair dexterity. He even tries climbing the steps of the staircase with assistance. This makes him happy. He keeps blabbering Pa-Pa, Ba-Ba, and Tay-tee-eh. A limited vocabulary, but he makes us understand his needs clearly with these three words/phrases and lot of other shrill sounds. He understands things little better. Like when I put on my shoes in the morning, he knows I am going out. He expresses his wish to go out with me by raising his arms and crying at times. He understands the ringing of the door-bell and run towards the door, whenever it rings. He is extremely moody. At times, he will just be with me and ignore his mother and at other times, he gives me the cold shoulder. He has a cute way of saying no to things. He nods his head the other way in a cute manner, when he doesn't want to come to me or eat more. And he has learned to throw a tantrum when required.
When I had held him for the first time in my hands, I had experienced unbridled joy. I had written about it here. When we celebrated his first birthday, I wrote about some of our father-son rituals here. Whenever I come home after office, all my stress and worries just melt away, the moment I pick him up. This part of his childhood is precious, when he is special in his world of two people - his parents. His world would have expanded by the same time next year, as he would have started his preschool by then. He would always remain special in our world, which is him.
Pic Description: Father and Son - Hand in Hand
The extract reproduced above, is the reason for writing this post. Here are the five things, I learned from Meharaj :
1. Enjoy the mundane - As we grow up, we forget the joy of doing simple things. Meharaj feels really happy just opening and closing drawers and throwing things around.
2. Move on - Grown-ups tend to cling on to things. We feel pain even when the reason of the pain doesn't exist. Two weeks ago, when Meharaj was being extra naughty he spilled the hot green tea his mother was having. Some drops fell on his hand. He cried a lot till the time he felt pain and he was his happy self soon. He loves his mother a lot, unconditionally.
3. Be curious - We leave our sense of wonder behind as we grow up. Nothing excites us. Meharaj is curious about everything. He follows me to the toilet as well to see what I do inside. It is a task to keep him out.
4. Don't hide your emotions - We stifle our laughs and wipe off our tears to fit in. Meharaj doesn't do that. He expresses everything. He remains silent and inexpressive when his grandparents video-call him. But when I travel, and video-call him in the evenings, he performs our shared silly routine with great enthusiasm. He puts the back of his hand in his mouth and makes inexplicable sounds and expect me to do so. And I do it.
5. Take risks - We stop taking risks as we grow up. We have our comfort zones. Meharaj takes risks. He tries to climb things - tables, chairs etc. at the risk of falling. He trusts us completely to stop him from falling. At times, he falls. He cries. We comfort him. And he climbs again.
As I wrote this post, he closed my laptop once, jumped on and off my lap multiple times and ate a tiny portion of a pancake. Meharaj has a silky, dense and unruly mop of hair, which shines in the sunlight. I enjoy running my hands through it. His two front upper teeth makes his goofy laugh so adorable. I love him.
---
My last year's challenge post from letter M was the 4th part in the series, where I write about my experiences with Mumbai. I am now in Chennai. But Mumbai will always be an integral part of my life. MUMBHAI - 4. Read it here.
---
My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.
2 comments:
I loved reading this post. All the things you have mentioned -that you learn from a child are very true. I feel that we tend to forget these same things as we grow up.
Best wishes to you all.
- Jui Positive Cookies
Thanks jui. 🙂
Post a Comment