(source)
Children are a blessing really.
I used to be this type of girl
who hopped from place to place, party to party, (man to man), thinking I had it
right and the rest of the world had it wrong. I saw children as tiny aliens who
only knew how to nag and whine. Until I came to live with them…
I used to prolong my student
years and wish for eternal party with lots of booze and fellow party animals. I
won’t lie to you, I actually abused some substances I should have never touched…
and so my usual day would be: get up, get dressed, have breakfast, check
facebook, met with friends, go to lectures, and at night: PARTY, drink, do
crazy things and forget them in the morning. Hangover. Yeap, those were my days
and I never wished for anything else.
I never gave much thought to
having a long relationship or starting a family. No way! I’d have to do so much
before that… publish my book, establish a career, live in Central London, get
an apartment, buy a car… the list goes on and on. Children would just obstruct
that. They’d take up my whole time and I’ll no longer have a life. And
then I came to live with the tiny aliens…
I haven’t had a proper
drink/night out in more than a month. I rarely use any substances apart from
aspirin and coffee. I’m not surrounded by party animals and that’s okay.
Sometimes I feel like I make my own choices most of the time and when I’m about
to make a mistake or begin to stagnate, life gently stirs me in the right
direction. It’s quite a nice feeling, feeling like something bigger cares after
you.
Of course, sometimes everything
goes terribly wrong, but the calm takes over eventually, and when it does life
is great again. So I’m happy I came and saw what it was like to have a family. Granted, I'd be happier if they didn't wake me at 6am sometimes, but I'll give them this: they always wear a smile, and that's a perfect way to start the day. I'm talking about two boys at the ages of 3 & 4 and a baby girl named Georgia.
Throughout this whole alien experience, I learned important lessons I wouldn’t have known otherwise. (Trust me, the
party can’t go on forever!) So I'll share them with you:
- I learned that it’s nice to sit down and play with a child once in a while.
- I learned that children will do stuff just because they’re fun.
- I learned that we don’t always have to worry about everything, we can slow down.
- I learned that family is not just the people in your house, it’s your support system in hard times.
- And I learned that I wouldn’t mind this nice and steady (somewhat peaceful) life.
But not yet! I still have to do
all those things on my list. And I’m still not even close to finding ‘the One’.
But I’ll be more open to the idea of settling one day. I’ll no longer look at
children like tiny aliens. I’ll look at them like they’re little gems of
wisdom, carrying important lessons.
So listen to your children and
listen to your neighbor’s children. They have it right.
What have you learned from children? Any fellow party animals out there?
