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!

If I had 2 extra hours in a day, what would I do?

2 hours, 120 minutes, 7200 seconds, 432000 milliseconds, I could go on but this would then just be a math's lesson. The point is 2 hours can be an incredibly long period of time or it can be very very short, depends completely on what you intend to do with it.

For most people living in my city, Bombay / Mumbai, it is a luxury we all can ill afford, but look forward to with every holiday we get from work, every vacation we plan, every break, every Sunday of every week.

Realistically, though, the first reaction to getting 2 extra hours would be something like this. "Wow! I've got 2 hours free....what should I do?? And before you know it the time has flown by!

I've always been a bit of a dreamer and I think the best use of free time is to give free reign to your imagination, spend some quality time with yourself. Our life is too much hustle bustle, hurry worry and curry, all work and no play, what would he/she think etc etc. How many of us take time off to just sit and think and dream!

 

Imagine yourself enjoying the holiday you always wanted to go to but didn't get the chance. Paint a picture like Picasso / Monet. Be the smiling Madonna. Build that tall tower of dreams like the Burj Khalifa! Innovate like Steve Jobs (may his soul RIP). You will feel the most relaxed you have in years! Sure, you've just wiled away your two hours, but you end up with a smile on your face and no time is worth more than that.

 If you're a newly made parent like me, there is no question about it! Take each and every one of those 432000 milliseconds and spend it with your child! Sit with him/her, talk to him/her, play with them and play like a child not an adult, put them to sleep, do whatever you can with them. Notice with an amazement unmatched by any other, how your mind suddenly clears up, your shoulders relax, you feel like you have no stress for once in your life. All that is there, is a silly smile on your face brought on by what can only be defined as the most innocent and heartfelt smile by your baby!

All this needs is some time. No toys, no food, no chocolate, not even mastercard! Being with you and enjoying every precious moment is all that it takes.

(This post was written for the Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart Contest on Indiblogger. Read more about Surf Excel Matic Here)