What my daughter has taught me

You here it all the time "your kids will change you." "They'll teach you patience."

Sure sure, I understood that because being a teacher, I learned so much from my students.

But things are much more personal when the lessons come from your children.

But Lil has taught me how resilient children are. It was always a fear of mind that I would have to go back to work. That fear was crippling. When it was brought up, I refused to let it be an option. My thoughts were "I can't do that to her," "She'll never forgive me," "It will ruin her." It brought me to tears often. I felt that I would be choosing work over her. The love that I had for her has grown immensely and her adaptability with me going back to work has made me comforted and proud. Even though I am only working part-time, I miss her dearly during the days and often have to give myself a reality check that I am NOT ruining her.

Lil has taught me how learning is a process, not a destination. Being a teacher, I was destined to make sure my babies were the smartest. That they would be walking first, talking up storms and initiating friendships with others. I wanted to be able to brag about how 'advanced' she was. Thank you Lilly for not letting me be like that. Seriously, who likes to be around those people?!!! As others around her were crawling and getting into things, Lilly would sit and watch. She would entertain herself with a toy and was content with watching things around her. As her first birthday approached, I was eager to want to push her into walking. But I was reminded to as to what kind of parent I wanted to be: A Pusher or An Encourager. I chose the latter. And its been such a rewarding experience to see now all that she can do. Not because I pushed her, but because she developmentally can. I love to see her work problems out and be persistent. I love to see how cautious and calm she is. Its her personality after all. Despite the comments "Oh you just got an easy one," I truly believe that it is our approach to child rearing and finding the one that encourages and brings out the best in children. Even though it sometimes makes me sad that Lilly is in such an independent stage, I am SOOO PROUD that she has developed confidence in herself.

The life of a little one IS hard. Its so easy to say, "What's so hard, you're a baby. You've got it made." I know I am guilty of it. But seriously, imagine being in a place, you've never been and trying to communicate and navigate it all. When you ask someone in this new place a question. They mutter something to you. You continue to ask. That would be very difficult.They get more upset. You ask one more time, and they shout at you and point for you to leave. Do you get where I'm coming from (if not, I have a weird affinity for analogies, if it doesn't make sense, I apologize)And although Lilly gets, what I think, is frustrated easily, all of this really is new for her. And she hasn't yet developed the ability to make choices, rationalize, or understand the why. For goodness sakes, I still don't understand the why. I really feel like this lesson is the most important one I've learned. It's so easy to think that our stage of life is the most difficult, but I think we've got it easier than the little ones. They are learning trust, learning independence, learning about their environment.

What a blessing it is to be able to have a little one. To see them grow. Babies are such a reminder to love the simplicity in life and be challenged by the BIG world around us!

What lessons have you learned from others?

Follow Hurley Love on Bloglovin