Little Edison is six years old now; I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. It feels like it was only yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. I still remember the newness of those early days. As a first-time parent, every day is a new learning experience for me.
Back then, six years felt like the distant future, and yet here I am today, six years later. My friend once told me – When you have a child, the days are long, but the years are short. It is such an interesting paradox.
In these six years, I’ve taught Little Edison many things. By the same light, he has also taught me many wonderful life lessons. It often amazes me how he can go up to any child at the park and play with him or her. Everyone is his “friend”. It also makes me realize that children possess certain qualities that we, adults, often lack.
Here are some of the wonderful life lessons I have learnt from my six-year-old:
1. How to be happy
Unlike most adults, a child has a very natural and uncomplicated approach to happiness. He doesn’t need expensive gifts or elaborated arrangements to make him happy. He can find joy in the simplest of things.
Whenever I give him some stickers as a reward for completing his homework, he will jump with joy. Turn over a rock and found a worm is an event to be remembered. “Look, Mama! I found a worm!” He often reminds me to slow down and take pleasures from the simple things in life.
From him, I’ve learnt that happiness is very simple and uncomplicated.
2. How to love unconditionally
There’s no feeling in the world like becoming a parent. Until we try it, we’ll never know. Loving our children more than our own lives just happen. It’s magical.
Edison has no doubt that we all love him. He has no doubt that I love him with all my heart, mind and soul. In return, he loves me unconditionally too. He has faith in me that I will do my best by him.
3. How to simplify difficulties
Have you ever noticed that our children generally take a simple approach when it comes to problem-solving? We adults, on the other hand, often look at the problem from a thousand different angles, and at the end, we’re unsure of which route to take.
That’s the beauty of a child’s brain. He always chooses the simplest and most obvious path.
4. Tomorrow is going to be a GOOD day!
When Edison was little, he would ask me, “Is tomorrow going to be a good day?” I assured him, yes, tomorrow would be a good day. Now that he reaches the age of six, he gets what I mean.
I was sick for the last few days. Before we went to bed last night, he said to me: “Tomorrow is going to be a good day. Tomorrow, you’ll be fine, Mama.” I smiled to him and said: “No matter how difficult today is, tomorrow will definitely be a good day. A brand new day.”
We may be older and wiser than our children. However, if you look closely, you might also learn a lot from your children too. What is the biggest life lesson that you’ve learnt from your children? Let me know by leaving a comment.
