What has your child taught you?
What an awesome question! In many respects, parenting hinges on the ability of a parent to teach his or her child lessons, morals, life skills, and good habits that will give that child the best chance of finding both happiness and success throughout life. However, sometimes the process is inverted, yet just as effective in terms of self-discovery and parent-child bond reinforcement. The fact of the matter is that we can learn quite a lot from our children — even when they are at a young age.
What has my son, Arden, taught me over the last three and a half years since he was born? I could easily write a book as Arden has taught me so much. He has taught me that wrestling in a king size bed is the closest thing to the UFC a three year old can get. My sunshine has instructed me that Marshall on Paw Patrol is the coolest pup because he is a firefighter and super silly. Arden has tutored me on the finer points of playground etiquette. I might be biased but my child is a great playground friend.
Most importantly and above all, he has taught me unconditional love. I know it sounds cliché — parents say all the time that they have unconditional love for their children and you can find a thousand memes on social media covering this topic. Yet, the feeling is undeniable, and Arden has taught me to feel it on a daily basis.
The method, the process, and approach might seem surprising, but he awoke an insecure man with his unconditional love of me. I was so scared at the beginning stages of his life because I shared custody of him. I knew I would give him everything I had in my heart but I worried that others would have his heart or control of him.
Hour by hour and second by second, with every bottle feed, midday nap session, moonlight stroll, backyard jam session, he accepted me with his bright eyes, warm smile and sweet kisses.
The times that he was sick or the different points in his childhood where he fell down or scrapped his knees , all the hard times, he truly could feel healed and better with a kiss from daddy. Pure magic. He healed me by allowing me to heal him.
Lastly, when I have felt down and hopeless with the harshness of life, his unconditional love always makes me rise above any difficulties and where I can finally feel comfortable in my own skin being a single, out of shape 44 year old dad to a three year old boy. I am able to enjoy the world through his eyes and to me that is the most rewarding feeling — a feeling that one cannot fully understand until he or she has become a parent.
