2018 ended on a high note for me. I was hoping for 2019 to have an equally great start. After welcoming the new year by organizing a picnic with friends followed by a family get together, we returned back to Kolkata in the first week of this month. The pending writing assignments got me busy immediately after and then it was time for the toddler to get back to his preschool post the holidays. My 3.4-year-old happens to be one of the most gentle, caring and compassionate souls in my life till date. In an era of eroding humanity and decaying conscientiousness, he is unbelievably empathetic and understanding for his age. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that I am learning to be a better person through his actions.
Within three days of joining back preschool, he fell sick because of a stomach infection. We had to coax him to skip classes on Thursday and Friday to help him recover. It saddened me to think of the consequence of this sudden illness. In all probability, he was likely to miss the preschool carnival scheduled on 12th Jan (yesterday). When he woke up yesterday morning, I was furiously typing on my laptop trying to attempt writing a few words for my second novel. I had expected him to start nagging me to stop working and attend to him instead. But to my surprise, he asked me if we could go to the carnival for a little duration.
Despite the fact that he was still too weak for an activity that involved a lot of fun and energy, my heart went out to the little boy and I nodded smilingly. I had assumed that his interest lay in the games, delicious food, and the gala celebration but to my surprise, he spoke about how Aunty M was going to miss him if he didn’t show up. He didn’t want his class teacher Aunty M to be disheartened owing to his absence. In the past nine months that he has been a student of this preschool, I have seen him transform from a child terrified of going to school to an eager toddler waiting for his weekend to get over so that he could be back at school. He shares an amazing rapport with not just his teachers but also the nannies who take care of these little ones. Honestly, I am learning how to build and nurture relationships from him these days. So, not only did he go to the carnival yesterday, but he also managed to win four out of the five games that he played. The cherry on the cake was a beautiful kite that he created with the help of his Aunty M. I couldn’t have been more proud.
Often, we tend to be judgemental about an individual based on their traits, especially if these are vastly different from ours. As a kid, I have always been quite fearless and assertive. My son, on the other hand, is extremely cautious in nature and gets easily intimated. I am vocal about my opinion in a loud and clear voice while he is soft-spoken and selective about his words. Unfortunately, his introvert and sensitive nature often get labeled as weakness. It did affect me initially because he was everything that I wasn’t. But with time, I have learned some of the biggest life lessons from him. Today, I think it is a privilege for me to be in a position to imbibe certain virtues of his. I have learned to pause and observe my surroundings, soak in their beauty and act from my heart just like he does it effortlessly.
‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’
soniasmusings 
Your little boy is a darling, Sonia!
Kids do teach us so much. We only need to be able to put aside our ego to learn from them.
I am glad he went to the carnival and won those games. That must have made him feel a whole lot better than staying at home, isn’t it?
Give him my blessings! ❤
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Nice post. Unfortunate that your son fell ill at the early part of the year. It is also heartening to appreciate that you as a mother understand individual traits that may vary from people to people. Many don’t. As a result one size fits all approach is followed.
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It is nice to know that you are learning from your child instead of teaching him. If parents try to appreciate the mind and inclinations of kids we will have less troubled upbringing.
A post that should be a must-read for every parent.
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I always believe that we should keep relating and learning from our children. Reaching out to the child within us is what keeps us young at heart. Loved reading about your little inspiration! He sure is adorable! A beautiful read Sonia.
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Hope your kiddo is doing well now.
Kids, there is a lot to learn from them with their contrast nature compared to adults.
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He’s such a darling, Sonia! You must be one proud mamma! I do hope he is feeling better now. Hugs to the little munchkin.
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Dear Sonia,
That’s a very heartfelt post. Hope the little one is doing better now. Such a sweet thing to know that your son is so eager to go to school, that shows that the environment there is inviting, encouraging, interesting and nurturing. Good that he got such an awesome teacher in Aunty M. And glad he enjoyed the carnival and was so active in it.
As you said he is very different from yours, and sometimes its little frustrating too, I guess that’s just every parent who wants to see a bit of their reflection in their kids. We all are guilty of doing it. But on the other hand, you appreciate and learn from his sensitive nature. Parents are labeled as teachers, I think it’s an incorrect position, we teach kids what we know or have learnt or ready them for the society, but our kids are better teachers to us. They teach us what we need to learn for being better individuals.
You are doing a great job as a mother and as an individual. God bless both of you!
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Hugs Sonia and I hope he is well on his way to recovery now. There’s so much our kids teach us, through their actions, right? Such wonderful, tender souls. They are blessings in more ways than one. Give him a big kiss from me and here’s hoping he attends many more school carnivals and gets to spend more and more time with Aunty M 🙂
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Sweet little boy. So nice to read about him. Don’t worry too much about his gentle behavior. We need more such gentle souls among us. You are raising a great kid 😊
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Such a sweet tale, Sonia.
Nice pics. Great kite 🙂
We learn so much from children. Their innocence and adaptability is touching.
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Simple sweet story. Yes! We at times tends to be more judgemental and that the point where we start loosing all the innocence we have. One of tge reason can be lack of exposure due to technology, We and children are becoming more involved in ourselves then in physical and actual world 🙂
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Very touchy story.
Are you a writer? You mentioned here about your second novel.
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Gr8👍
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