3 things my child has taught me!

You don't become parents, you are made parents by your kids. This transformation from ordinary people to parents is not complete until and unless you can understand their needs and wants even before they learn to communicate them to you in some sort of a language.

With this in mind, here are the top 3 things that I have learnt from my kids.

1) Love: No matter how much you think you are in love with someone, be it your spouse, your parents, your siblings or even cupid's own college sweetheart, you haven't understood love until and unless your child first smiles at you around 2 months of age. His toothless grin, with those twinkling eyes will set apart a place in your heart so special, that even your own other children after your first born can't occupy!

2) Time: Your child will grow fast and the faster he grows the slower you will wish he does. You will crave to spend more time with the gurgles and giggles but before you know it, he would have gone from crawling to falling to walking to asking for the car keys. This was said best in the song 'Cats in the Cradle'. Spend each free minute with your child, watch him learn things, watch him grow, watch him imitate you to learn how to express himself. It beats the feeling of any bonus you will get at work, any lottery you win, any other joy you will ever know.

3) Patience: Your child will go on and on about the things he wants, will not be willing to wait 10 seconds for it, will thump his fists and stomp his feet till he gets it, and when he does he will smile at you like he has never smiled before. This is a huge challenge to discipline him but it is also a huge learning experience. The less patience he has, the more you will need to keep in order to stop yourself from screaming at him or whacking him both of which prove futile. Be patient, be calm and like all other characteristics, he will pick these up from you as well and be a more patient person when he grows.

There are so many more things that kids teach you, but personally for me, these are on top of my list!

*Yes this is my family, my beautiful wife Vinita, my star son Toofan and my darling daughter Bijlee!