As a to-be parent, I had lots of ideas and thoughts about how I want to raise my kid, what I want to teach him/ her,  what qualities I  want my baby to imbibe and so on. It seems however, that the tables have turned completely post motherhood – and my 9 month old daughter is teaching me some amazing life lessons.

Here’s what she has taught me so far:

1. Communicate effectively: It’s amazing how easily my little one expresses her delight and excitement with near zero vocabulary. Her eyes light up, her voice demonstrates her excitement and she is visibly happy. She claps her hands, squeals in joy and is all smiles. The same goes for anything that annoys her – she makes her displeasure be known with equal fervor. Her eyes well up, followed by her loud cries and she does that with every ounce of energy she possesses. As a grown up, I  don’t always express my wishes and desires to even my closest and most loved ones, instead keep expecting them to understand me. My daughter is teaching me to ask for it – whatever it is I desire, let it be known.

2. Live in the moment: My daughter is teaching me how to live in the moment. If there’s music, she dances – so what if she doesn’t know any funky steps and so what if there are people watching. As long there’s music, she’ll dance. Even if that means just head banging or going up and down on her knees. She immerses herself in the present; she is a 100% there. If there’s an item of interest, she has to get it and she’ll do everything in her power to get there.

3. Be curious: Babies love exploring their surroundings. Everything that they see, they want to examine up close. Though it keeps us moms on our toes, babies learn by touching, feeling and tasting almost everything within their reach. When my little one is getting into trouble because of her curiosity, it’s quite annoying right then but usually makes for a good laugh later. She loves going for the doormat, our footwear or tiny specks of dirt. It’s as if everything that’s dirty attracts her! Watching her make new discoveries, is teaching to me to find the wonder in everyday things, to always be excited and never stop exploring the world.

4. Happiness is the natural state: Unlike us adults who need a reason to celebrate, a reason to be happy, babies have a happy disposition by default. They need a reason to be cranky or upset; being happy is their natural state. My daughter  is happy just because momma wished her a Good Morning or her Dadda picked her up; she is happy to see her glass of water and is more than thrilled to meet Mickey mouse (her stuffed toy).

5. Observe keenly: My baby watches every action of my husband and me keenly. She is learning from our behaviors and the behaviors of all around her. She wants to taste what we are eating, she wants to hold the gadgets we use, and she wants to sit with us at the table for lunch and dinner. She won’t sleep unless we head to the bedroom too. I am learning from her to observe as keenly, to not just hear but to listen, to be acutely aware of my surroundings. Her keen observation ensures we walk the talk.

6. Never give up: One of the most amazing aspects of watching kids grow is seeing them master new skills and reach new learning milestones. When my daughter was learning to roll over, commando crawl, sit up or pull herself to stand – she failed so many times. I could see her frustration on not being able to do what she wanted, not being able to reach that toy that was always just a tad bit out of reach. She never stopped trying though. Not until she got there and even when she did – she practiced each skill till she mastered it. Kids never give up and she is teaching me to try ever harder and never stop practicing.

7. Show you love: Every evening when we go to pick up our daughter from her day-care, she greets us with such excitement – that we forget all our troubles. All that our adorable little daughter wants at the end of the day is for us to pick her up and hold her. She gives us the warmest of hugs, beautiful smiles and wet kisses (more like licks) – the best gifts ever. She is showing us how important and fulfilling expressing our love and affection is.

It is wonderful to be shown how happy someone is to see you. Great to know that you were being missed! As grown-ups we sometimes find it difficult to tell our loved ones how much we love them, how much we care. If only we could be as unabashed in expressing our love as babies, life would be so awesome.

Love you my baby – thank you for teaching me so much in such a short time. I hope we will keep learning, living and loving every moment.

Article First Published on mycity4kids.com