Learning from experience
Lots of people used to tell me how ‘easy’ a kid Anya is. How she’s relatively obedient, eats whatever meals given to her without much fuss, not physically agressive towards others, can fall asleep easily by herself on the bus, mrt, pram, etc.
But the thing is, I only get to really REALISE and UNDERSTAND what people’s been telling me AFTER I had Vai, who is the opposite of his sister in so many ways.
He can hardly sit still. He wakes up easily from sleep. He needs to be carried in a sling (AND at most times, breastfed!) if I want to make him fall asleep when we’re outside.
He’s so much more physically active. He dares to try seemingly ‘dangerous’ acts. He keeps on doing what he did earlier, even after he’s just had a ‘bad’ experience a few seconds ago.
Yes. As their parent, I do get to see how two siblings’ characters can be so different from one another and how unique and special each of them is. I also get to constantly learn how to to tackle and manage challenging situations – that happen within and outside our home.
And if I used to say ‘every child is unique, one approach may apply to one child but not to the other, and we need to address their needs accordingly’, I can now say it more convincingly. I can even throw in a few ‘REAL-LIFE examples’.
Ah. The stuff you continually learn and discover as a parent.
