Parenthood

Being a parent is a very challenging role. Moreover, each baby is unique in their own way. In my experience, it requires a lot of love, patience, and knowledge for the best development of the child. I would like to share with you my experiences with my four children. With the first three children, I worked until the delivery, so I didn't have time to join any prenatal courses or parental classes. I just read a book about how to take care of a baby. And that was it.

For the first child, as a brand new mom, I only followed all instructions and advice from my mom and other seniors. Now, looking back at that time, I see that I didn't learn about him enough to understand what he needed, and my mom's experiences and advice didn't work for him. He not only cried and was fussy every night but also didn't want to eat much. We even tiredly fed him milk with a spoon, but that did not work either. We did every traditional method, but keeping him calm and sleeping during the night was hard. We even tiredly fed him milk with a spoon. After three months, we found out that he had heart defects that made him uncomfortable.

The second one, I thought I had more experience, but I actually didn't. I still followed what other people told me to do. He was easier because he was born healthy. However, he often got the flu and cried for mommy at nighttime, especially when I had the third child when he was two years old. I still didn't recognize what he really wanted through his cries. My mom helped me all the time.

For the third child, she was quite healthy and much easier compared with her brothers. This time, I had six months of maternity leave, which was longer than her brothers, only four months before going back to work. After that, my cousin took care of her as a nanny, and I just dropped her off and picked her up every weekday at my cousin's house. I spent my time at work all day and played with her at night and on weekends only. I still don't think that I understood what she really wanted then. She was just easy-going.

For the fourth one, it was another girl. This time, I had time to participate in some prenatal and baby care courses, and learn to take care of the baby via online resources. I know what she really wants through different cries. I feed her well and spend all day with her. I've been learning from her; in return, she has learned something from me and the world around her. When we understand each other, life is much easier. Many people said that with the fourth one, I must have a lot of experience and knowledge about how to take care of the baby and children. I always reply that I am learning more because each of them is so different, so I need to adjust myself to nurture them. Moreover, each stage of a child's development requires various care and needs. Therefore, learning is a continuous process.

There are a lot of responsibilities and difficulties as a parent, yet abundant rewards and happiness have been happening along the path of bringing up a child. I've learned a lot from my children. I've learned how to be patient, love, and be loved.