If you have read my other
posts then you know about the difficulties I have raising my daughter. It is
not because of other complications like being single. The fact of the matter is
Parenting is tough.
I tell the truth when she asks
me difficult-to-answer questions. Once
she asked me how they take babies from mommies and I told her the truth (skipping
the gory part of course) I even showed her my stitches when we discussed this.
She was just six but she came to me to ‘talk’ to ‘know.’
I don’t worry about her health
too much. Some parents freak out if their kids fall and hurt themselves. I am
one of the kind that high fives her after a fall. If she is in pain I tell her
what to do next.
And how do I make her do
something like eating her meal or bathing? I tell her if she doesn’t do it then
she can forget about her tab that day. It works like magic.
No matter how smart you think
you are, or how better you think you are than your own parent or how many hours
you spend reading about parenting - you are never prepared for times of
struggle.
I lose my temper sometimes especially
in the mornings. I yell at her or do something which I regret later. But
recently I learnt a trick (actually a truth… in a weird way)
My daughter is my E.T.!
You don’t get mad at E.T. if
he spills milk or refuses to eat or cries like a baby to take a bath. When she
does something that upsets me I tell myself that she’s new to this planet and has
just started learning ‘our ways’ This single thought has changed our relationship
in a big way. Most of all it has taught me to be more patient. That’s the key
to be a good parent.
So when I see her as an alien
from a far off planet the things that normally makes me mad at her don’t anymore.
I could be wrong about all
this.
But as the child learns to be,
so do we about being a parent.
