My Toddler Son Taught me that..

I was a kid not too long ago, leaning on the grown-ups for support, guidance and approvals. Looking back, I lived my best life without caring for the world or planning the future.

The growing up happened fast, and the Adulting even faster with the arrival of my now 16-month-old boy Sheeva. As a parent, I have the power of influence over him. 

And With great power comes great responsibility and some dirty diapers.

While there are tons, I need to teach my child in the years ahead. What I wasn’t prepared for was learning from Sheeva. Yes, The Little Man has influenced me.

Here are 5 life lessons I learnt from the Wise Toddler Sheeva :

1. The Journey from Special to Adult: Every Baby is Special. We were all special when we were born. And if Every baby were special, none of them would be special. Each of us was the cutest, most brilliant, fantastic baby. And then we became adults and Often become Just Another Brick in the Wall, another Instagram account and another Online subscriber. Instead of that rare, rough diamond that we showed ourselves to be. Does the light within us that made us shine as babies need to be turned back on?
2. Eat, Sleep and Repeat – Eat what your body needs and when it needs it. Sleep when you’re tired. And make considerable noise when either of those essentials is not made available at a moment’s notice. We, as adults, have strayed far from the path of a natural and healthy eating/sleeping routine. And the countermeasures to correct them are a Trillion Dollar industry in the form of pills, diets and other magic bullets and a lifetime of trying to Get there.
3. Finding Joy in the Present – My baby does not wake up thinking about the weekend ahead on a Friday morning. Nor does he dread Monday mornings. He’s living to the fullest in the Present moment with awe, wonderment and without preconceived notions of how things should be. Spending time with Sheeva reminded me that what we refer to as ‘Finding joy in small things, such as going for an evening walk with him, are life’s Biggest Moments.
4. Playtime is Fun – Every activity is fun when treated like play. They are eating food (A herculean task for parents to feed them), reading books, imitating animal sounds, building legos and destroying them. Making a mess, learning to clean up and general randomness.
5. Express Yourself Like No One Is Watching – Expression is a central theme in all of the above. It’s the See-saw opposite of Inhibition. When one goes up, the other goes down. Babies are Expressive, and it’s also keeping their Creative Energy channels open. We could do more of that in this politically correct (PC culture) world we’re living in, where we’re too afraid of saying the wrong thing instead of wanting to do the Right Thing.