Parenthood

I have friends who have a child of the same age as my daughter. They are all ‘mother’ friends I made when I gave birth to my daughter in Canada. Coincidentally, all of them were only child’s mothers like me and have been close to each other for 9 years as co-workers of child-raising and we are all similar ages.

They are all enthusiastic mothers who do their best to raise their children. Conversations with them always stimulated me and made me reflect on myself, because I was a mother who was not as diligent or wise about my child as they were.

I was impatient with my child’s natural immaturity and clumsiness, so I was worried that my child would be left behind. So, I used to urge her to try harder. I was a mother who was happy to take a rest from my child rather than worry about how much my child struggled in school because she couldn’t speak English when she went to the school for the first time. I was a mother who did my best to teach what my child what she needed to learn but couldn't have fun with her well because it was difficult for me. I didn’t know how to play with my child and at that time I was so exhausted from parenting.

As I raise my child, I feel that it seems that my child sometimes grows too slowly, but suddenly she has is growing too quickly. As I was comparing myself to my friends and regretting my parenting shortcomings, I suddenly realized that it's not too late yet for me to try harder to engage more and be better with my child. It's time to act so that I don't regret it before it's too late. From now on, I’d like to listen more to my child, praise her more, hug her more and play with her more.