Don't leave me just yet

Well, I did manage to get out into the day after all and spend some time photographing my daughter playing in the yellow maple leaves. We didn't have much time because the window between her meals was narrow and where we were had nowhere available to heat food and the stuff that we have that is ready to eat, doesn't constitute a meal. One day it will be easier to move around once she can have a slightly wider range of foods available but for now, we manage as we do.

The day was very, very warm and it might have even hit 18 degrees today which is almost unheard of at this time of year. I think that the warmth is part of the reason the leaves are so yellow with hardly any red to be found, at least as I have seen in this area. Some years it seems like the trees are on fire they are so red and orange. Gold isn't a bad colour either.

She loves being outside though and loves playing around with whatever she can find and this is the first year where she is really comfortable running and jumping around by herself in the leaves. She is not the best at throwing the leaves high into the air yet though :D Despite having some sniffles still and a cough, she has been a good mood lately and today she was an absolute ball as she sang songs in the car and made jokes with words that rhyme.

My biggest fear for her when it comes to growing up is that she loses her sense of humor and becomes too serious with life. She spends a great deal of time thinking through things and she notices even the slightest changes in the environment which is great but, I think it means she will also see negatives in the world before she might fully be ready for them. Kids are much more aware than we give them credit for and they soak in everything.

She is starting to read the alphabet now and knows the numbers to 10 by sight so as we drive along and see signs she calls out the letters she sees and then attaches them to some words that she knows. There is no way I was doing that at 26 months old and I wonder where it will eventually lead her. I could read before going to school and I credit that with not paying any attention to school because in the early years it was that easy, I didn't have to learn anything or develop any kind of study habits. I needed them later though.

Parents nearly always overestimate the abilities of their children and have the tendency to brag about their accomplishments which generally annoys me but, I do it too. I can't help it, she is awesome. Of course I and my wife are biased in our opinions of her being parents but at the same time, neither of us are prone to embellishing too much.

Being the fourth of 5 children with the last being the only girl, you can imagine that my parents didn't necessarily invest a great deal of time into my personal development. This has pros and cons because even though I am relatively unskilled at everything and self-trained, it also means that I am independent, non-reliant and proactive in my approach to things. I think this is part of the work ethic conversation as if I didn't do what was needed to get something, there was very little chance of me getting it.

I think this is the challenge of parents of every generation though as all want a better life for their kids but giving it too easily leads to spoiling and later entitlement issues. I don't know where the best line is but my wife and I are trying to find a balance where our daughter is independent and willing to kick leaves to see what is underneath and carry the understanding that if she ever really needs help, she has us at her back. I don't want her to rely on me, but I want her to know she can. I also want to have the personal resources in myself to be here if she ever needs.

Playing in the autumn leaves and sunshine with my daughter counts as a pretty good Sunday I think.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]