Never too young to teach, and never too old to learn….

adismom · May 5, 2011

‘You better sleep fast before I get mad at you’ …was usually the last thing I would say to my 4 yr old DS to kind of threaten him into sleeping before he finally used to doze off after a marathon day of endless mischief’s and antics after which I would resume my kitchen work, cleaning ,organizing etc which would last one more hour at least.

By the time I finish all my chores and go to lie down next to my son its almost 10.30 pm (he has been refusing to sleep in his own room lately, and for various reasons I am Ok with him temporarily sharing my room...correction...I am not Ok with it , actually I love it!)So coming back to the point, when I finally go lie next to him, I get overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt. I feel guilty that the last thing I told him before he went to sleep was harsh and out of anger, not out of love. Now readers, don’t get me wrong ,I am not normally the yelling kind, also I don’t lose my temper very often, also I spend a great deal of time with my DS and love having the opportunity to do so being a SAHM(stay at home mom),in other words I know that I am being the best mom I can be to my son EXCEPT for this little thing, by the end of the day, I would get so weary that inadvertently this is the way I would choose to make him go to sleep quickly. And then the same cycle would continue, me feeling horrible about barking at him to fall asleep fast.

Then a few days back, something different happened, just as I was about to finish tucking him in, he says... .’I love you mom, good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite, you are the best girl ever’. Yup those were his exact words, the words that melted my heart. To which I replied, ’I love you too, good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite, you are the best boy ever’. And ever since this is the last thing we say to each other before he falls asleep. (Though I did ask him the next day from where he learnt this and he told the name of his favorite cartoon which he never fails to watch)

Anyway, guess they are never too young to teach us a few things and we are never too old to learn!

iyerviji · May 5, 2011

Dear Adismom

True its never too young to teach and never too old to learn. Now a days children learn everything fast and no problem in learning from them . Your son has learnt something good only , glad to hear his words that shows his love for you.

satchitananda · May 5, 2011

What a wonderful way of learning anger management. One could not ask for a better and more loving teacher. You are indeed blessed to have a little one like him. As they say, "out of the mouths of babes and infants". It is amazing what they come up with and it is uncanny how they come up with these things at the apt moment. Are children really repositories of wisdom which is unfortunately lost in the course of time and ageing? Looks like we grow down, not grow up, when we look at how much wiser than us kids can sometimes be. Little blotting papers. All the more reason that we watch how we behave in front them. Because they are always watching and learning.

I am going to nominate this for the FP of this month.

Thanks for sharing such a lovely experience with us. Wish you good luck and give the little one a big hug on my behalf. :cheers

adismom · May 5, 2011

Dear iyerviji

What you say is very true.Children now a days learn everything so fast and I cant count how many wonderful little itty bitty things I learn from my son.Thanks a lot for reading and stopping to comment on my post.I really appreciate it.

adismom · May 5, 2011

Dear Satchi,

You have expressed it so beautifully...'one cannot ask for a better or more loving teacher'..soo true.
My DS is truely the best thing that could ever happen to me.Not a day goes by without me thanking God for this wonderful little gift.
You are right when you say they are like blotting papers..they absorb everything ,they watch and learn so much from us (both the good and the bad).Even when I used to think he is too young to understand certain things (like the occassional fights between me and my spouse etc), he used to stun me by asking me the next day what it was all about!Yeah,I realised it was my foolishness to think that I could get away with so many things cause he is 'too young' to realise whats happening.But nothing can be farther from the truth.They can always sense when something is not right.They are much wiser than us.

I am soo touched and thankful to you for liking my post and thinking it deserves to be nominated for FP of the month.

Really appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to read and comment on my post.Thank You.

vjbunny · May 8, 2011

Dear Adismom....
Your article is such a beautiful piece no wonder Satchi nominated it.... All I want to say have been said by Satchi....I would only add

You are best mom to have got a best Son:thumbsup Congrats dear

Thanks for sharing...

adismom · May 9, 2011

Dear vjbunny,

Sorry for the late reply.I am soo happy that you liked my piece

This really encourages me to write some more.I greatly appreciate you stopping by to

read and comment on my post.

Thank you dear.

Srama · May 9, 2011

Adismom, very aptly said. Sometimes kids have an easier way of expressing of what we know is the right feeling and it takes a lovely person to pay attention to it and learn form it :thumbsup Thank you for sharing such a lovely experience with us!!

ptamil2007 · May 9, 2011

Wow, so cute words adismom

Infact, even I should be charged guilty of doing it in the past. Some months back, I corrected myself and used to kiss him on the forehead, say Good night, love you, Sleep well

Then he started saying byhimself
Sleep well, Get up well, Be well

He says it to my DH also..

adismom · May 9, 2011

Srama,

I am glad you liked my piece.And thanks for your sweet words.You are so right,everytime I knew I was doing something wrong when I used to kind of 'threaten' him into going to sleep,but I just couldnt change my ways.All it took was just a few sweet words from him to make me realise how to go about it in the 'right' way.

Thanks again for your kind words.