3 lessons I learnt from my kids
These days, I am busy teaching my daughters all kinds of things. I corrected my elder daughter's pronunciation, questioned her on alphabets and quizzed her on colours. The different types of transportation, why lizards can climb on walls and how there are no monsters in the world, those are just some questions parents have to answer every day. For the younger daughter, she is just learning to walk and feed herself but you can see she is eager to grow faster so as to run and play with her sister.
While they are growing and learning, they have also taught me important lessons.
Lessons that we once knew but have long forgotten. Lessons that were sacrificed in the pursuit of financial freedom. Lessons that should be reminded to everyone every day. Lessons that we so carelessly discarded when they actually are the most important epitome of life.
1) Happiness is simple
An ice cream, an orange, a trip to the playground, a visit to Mcdonalds', an inexpensive toy. When my daughter understood that money is given in the form of red packets, she straight away asked me to buy more fruits now that I have money collected from red packets. Even if there are days we stayed indoors during weekends, my daughters are more than happy to spend the time playing with each other and having fun with their toys and going to playground. They don't need to go overseas, live lavishly or have branded toys.
Life is supposed to be that simple.
2) Happiness is easy
Weekly, my parents came over to help us baby sit so we can go exercise. Every time we come home, my daughters are so eager to hug us and you can see how much they missed us. They don't need much of other things, they just need the parents' presence. The joy on their faces every time we pick them up from school is indeed, priceless. They don't take our presence for granted and it doesn't take much to let them know we love them and that we care. Shower children with praises when they did something right and you can see them grinning and being so proud of themselves. They just yearn for our approval and closeness.
We just have to be there for them.
3) Happiness is now
Kids don't know what is a long term plan. They only know their feelings now, they react instinctively. They want instant gratification, they are unable to think too far into the future. Not just without forward planning, they also have short memory. Their emotions can change drastically from a loud wailing bad temper to a wide grinning smile the next minute. They forget about all past displeasure and do not bear grudges against people. One minute they fight, the next minute they are good friends again. This fight and make-up cycle happens every other day but there are no lingering ill effects. If they see some candy now, they will want it but distract them a bit, and they forget about their cravings.
Treasure every minute with them because they grow up so fast.
We will come to expect a lot from our children. To have good manners, to practice proper hygiene, to get good grades, to maintain good relationships with everyone. I guess all these expectations might come later, but for now, I and all other parents, will just wish our children to be healthy.
Only when they are healthy, we can be happy. Only when we are healthy, they can be happy.
Happiness is that simple and easy.
While they are growing and learning, they have also taught me important lessons.
Lessons that we once knew but have long forgotten. Lessons that were sacrificed in the pursuit of financial freedom. Lessons that should be reminded to everyone every day. Lessons that we so carelessly discarded when they actually are the most important epitome of life.
1) Happiness is simple
An ice cream, an orange, a trip to the playground, a visit to Mcdonalds', an inexpensive toy. When my daughter understood that money is given in the form of red packets, she straight away asked me to buy more fruits now that I have money collected from red packets. Even if there are days we stayed indoors during weekends, my daughters are more than happy to spend the time playing with each other and having fun with their toys and going to playground. They don't need to go overseas, live lavishly or have branded toys.
Life is supposed to be that simple.
2) Happiness is easy
Weekly, my parents came over to help us baby sit so we can go exercise. Every time we come home, my daughters are so eager to hug us and you can see how much they missed us. They don't need much of other things, they just need the parents' presence. The joy on their faces every time we pick them up from school is indeed, priceless. They don't take our presence for granted and it doesn't take much to let them know we love them and that we care. Shower children with praises when they did something right and you can see them grinning and being so proud of themselves. They just yearn for our approval and closeness.
We just have to be there for them.
3) Happiness is now
Kids don't know what is a long term plan. They only know their feelings now, they react instinctively. They want instant gratification, they are unable to think too far into the future. Not just without forward planning, they also have short memory. Their emotions can change drastically from a loud wailing bad temper to a wide grinning smile the next minute. They forget about all past displeasure and do not bear grudges against people. One minute they fight, the next minute they are good friends again. This fight and make-up cycle happens every other day but there are no lingering ill effects. If they see some candy now, they will want it but distract them a bit, and they forget about their cravings.
Treasure every minute with them because they grow up so fast.
We will come to expect a lot from our children. To have good manners, to practice proper hygiene, to get good grades, to maintain good relationships with everyone. I guess all these expectations might come later, but for now, I and all other parents, will just wish our children to be healthy.
Only when they are healthy, we can be happy. Only when we are healthy, they can be happy.
Happiness is that simple and easy.
Jes
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Very well written. :)
ReplyDeleteWishing you and your family health and happiness.
-scm
Thank you SCM for your compliments :)
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