Island Parent Fall 2023

PARENTING
Lessons from
a Little Kid
My daughter started Kindergarten this year. Now, a few
months in, I have accepted that she is no longer a little
kid. Not a really little kid at least. She’s way past diapers,
past the terrible twos. Teething is a distant memory. Naps
vanished long ago. All those baby accessories—the BabyBjorn,
the Diaper Genie, the Exersaucer have long since been
cleared out and donated. But as I embrace my not-so-little
kid, I think of everything her babyhood and toddlerhood
has taught me—not about parenting, but about how I navigate
my own life as an adult.
Here are a few things my daughter’s early years taught
me:
Sleep is everything.
This was the biggest lesson from the newborn stage, when
the midwife came over one day and asked me if I knew how
to nap. I did not. I do now. A well rested child is a happy
child. A late bedtime for a toddler can wreak havoc for days
to come. And adults? Just the same. It’s so much easier to
fall apart on a bad night’s sleep. So much easier to snap at
your partner when you’re tired. So much easier for a little
thing to push you to tears. Sleep will save you and not
enough of it will pull you under.
Do not back down.
I can’t tell you how many times my daughter threw a fit
because she didn’t want to have a bath, or go to bed, or
leave the playground or try going to the bathroom before
bed and I’d think to myself—wow this is both very annoying
and very impressive. I wish I had this kind of resolve
when I present an idea in a meeting rather than saying “just
a thought…” or when no one offers to make Turkey dinner
for Thanksgiving and suddenly I’m hosting. Little kids will
stand their ground, tear-streaked face, thrashing legs, violent
arms and all. And adults? We need to do the same (only
without the screaming fits).
14 Island Parent Magazine IslandParent.ca