When Our Children Become The Teachers

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0771Over the past few months, it has been a real joy getting to know my daughter. Sure I have been with her for the past 26 months of her life, but now that she has been talking up a storm I have really gotten the opportunity to watch her little personality take form. What I have learned is my daughter despite what it seems does indeed pay attention to everything we say to her, even if she doesn’t respond. She is bright & funny and a bit of a smart ass.

Mai has been learning so quickly. She loves to learn. She absorbs everything that we put in front of her. Recently, I have been getting the feeling that my toddler might just be smarter than us.

One morning over the baby monitor, I heard her and daddy talking. My husband was commenting on how cute her turtle pajamas were. “Frogs, Dada, frogs!” I had to laugh because I knew that she was right.

She has corrected me as well. It can sometimes be embarrassing to have a two year old tell you that you are wrong, but at the same time it fills me with pride to have raised such a bright young lady.

I have been realizing that there is a lot that I can learn from our little girl.

The Joy Of Living

Everyday things that we take for granted bring our children such joy. There is so much beauty in watching the world through my child’s eyes. Her eyes grow wide when she sees snow on the ground & squeals with excitement when a bunny hops through the yard. There is no rush to get to an appointment or to that next meeting. Each moment is breathed in and enjoyed without limits.

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Fearlessness

You tend to lose this the older you get. I can remember being young & the riding roller coaster until I was ready to puke. Now, it scares the daylights out of me. When you are young, you are ready to jump into anything. You don’t care what anyone thinks or what anyone says. You are not afraid of getting hurt or injured (I know not always a plus, but how liberating).

Don’t Waste A Moment

Do you ever notice how your children never want to nap, eat or go to sleep at night? They are so busy having fun, playing & learning that they do not want to give up a moment of their time. Children have no downtime they are always busy. While, I am pro-nap all the way, I wish that I made better use of my time.

Open Your Imagination

Imagine being a princess of your own castle or having tea with an elephant and a giraffe. The possibilities are endless when you are a child. As an adult many of us lose our sense of imagination. This doesn’t necessarily mean that need to run out and buy a pirate costume & start playing dress up, but keeping an imaginative mind can be beneficial to you in solving problems and brainstorming new ideas. Would J.K. Rowlings be where she is today without her beautiful imagination?

Channeling her inner Jackie O.

Never Stop Learning

Children love to learn and they do it so well. We have a US map puzzle that my daughter & I often do together. She has gotten really good at it. She knows her states by shape, name & location.  At this point, she might know them better than I do. Have you ever seen a child with electronics these days? Many are able to operate them better than their parents. What this means to me is there is still a lot that we can still learn even as adults. Your studies don’t need to end when you reach a certain age. Remember “Knowledge is Power”.

Forgiveness

Do you still have a grudge over some fight with a high school friend 20 years ago? Have you ever woken up not speaking to your husband after a fight? I have bad days with my daughter. We have had moments where mommy had to say no, take away her toys or put her to bed in utter exasperation, only to have her wake up in the morning and throw her arms around me as if nothing ever happened. We could all take a cue from our children.

Things Often Forgotten

Tonight at dinner as we sat down to eat, she taught my husband and I another lesson. I was pulling the fork up to my mouth about to enjoy my first bite when our daughter said “God bless our food, Amen.” I was shocked & a little shamed as well. She did not learn this from me. I have heard this short prayer many times coming from my mother-in-law. We work so hard to instill good manners and values in our child, but have managed to forget about bringing God into her life. Thank you Mai for reminding us what is important.

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27 comments

  1. Truly have learned so much from my kids too here and pretty often daily. Trust me, even still I have a ways to go and will admit that I am an old, stubborn women sometimes though. But I am trying and my girls are definitely good teachers like Mai is, too 🙂

  2. I have to agree with everything you said. I learn so much from her everyday. To slow down, to take time and smell the roses, to use our imaginations. I love her so much.

  3. I also love reliving my youth through my sons. It’s fun to act silly again and just go with it. And you are right about the fearlessness thing. I climbed trees to the point they swayed as a kid. You wouldn’t catch me in one now!

  4. We too enjoyed those young years, but now that they’re a little bit older there is NO WAY we would go back to it. Changing diapers was not for me!

  5. This is such a great post! Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is a miracle. Children know how to truly enjoy life. If we could all get back to the simple, child like pleasures the world would be a better place. It always amazes me how bright little ones can be at such a young age. Thanks for inspiring me to enjoy the little moments in life! <3

  6. Isn’t it amazing how much these little people can teach us? Not even on this Earth for a handful of years and they exude wisdom, without even knowing it! My 5-year-old still teaches me things (although now she thinks she does know everything! lol!)

  7. I love this post! My 2 toddlers teach me so much every day. I can only imagine the lifetime of lessons I will learn from the. Oh, and I’ve got to know…where did you get that US puzzle?? 🙂

    1. I love this puzzle. My sister in law gave them to her for Christmas. I will have to find out from where. It was a whole set of foam puzzles with this map, left and right hands with numbers and an ABC elephant. They are great. I am still in awe that my daughter can do this.

  8. You are absolutely right – I have also learned so much from my 2-year old son. Like you, I honestly think that they are simply just smarter than us. I am corrected often, and like Mai, my son is a bit of a smart ass with it. But he is a ball of joy and I wish I could remove the weight of the world on my shoulders and live life so free.

    Thanks so much for sharing on Turn It Up Tuesday! We love having you! 🙂

  9. No matter what age, we are still learning from them. Our oldest is 23 and I still pay attention and notice when he is near or calling…They need us and we learn from them, while teaching them also 🙂

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