{"id":812,"date":"2011-06-30T17:42:42","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T12:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/dad\/?p=812"},"modified":"2011-06-30T17:42:42","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T12:12:42","slug":"lessons-ive-learned-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/2011\/06\/lessons-ive-learned-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons I’ve Learned – 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fellow mommy blogger posted an interesting piece entitled “Five things motherhood\/parenthood has taught me<\/a>“, and tagged me in it.\u00a0 I thought it was a great idea to use the opportunity to put down some of my own learnings on the subject.\u00a0 Though, I must confess, I have a feeling that this is going to be just one in a series of such posts on my part, hence the number 1 at the end.<\/p>\n

In his poem The Rainbow, William Wordsworth remarked \u201cThe child is father of the Man\u201d. I never really understood what that meant until I became a parent. Over the years, my little kids have taught me a whole lot, and I\u2019m sure it\u2019s just the beginning. I\u2019ve \u00a0also come to learn a lot about\u00a0being\u00a0<\/em>a parent, and some of that may be useful to you.<\/p>\n

So, here are some of the most important lessons I\u2019ve learned in my journey as a parent:<\/p>\n

1. Your children need your presence more than your presents. \u00a0– Jesse Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

Time and again, I have found myself being surprised by the amount of joy my children experience, just by virtue of me or the mrs. spending some good quality time with them.\u00a0 Not to mention the number of\u00a0occasions\u00a0on which a single piece of chocolate or a toy that costs less than 20 bucks can make their day!<\/p>\n

Excess is for losers, I say. Don\u2019t think you need to buy them expensive gifts to make them happy. Your children need your presence more.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t handicap your children by making their lives easy. \u00a0– Robert A. Heinlein<\/em><\/p>\n

In Life, as in Parenting, you gotta make some tough calls at times.\u00a0 Every parent needs to do\u00a0it.\u00a0 And, every parent should.\u00a0 Even if it means upsetting your child for the moment, and resisting the temptation of spoiling him\/her.<\/p>\n

So keep your own needs (of gratitude) aside, and take the decision that is in the best interest of\u00a0your child<\/em>. Every time. You cannot fix everything for them. They gotta handle some of Life on their own.<\/p>\n

3. The quickest way for a parent to get a child\u2019s attention is to sit down and look comfortable. \u00a0– Lane Olinghouse<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re considering being a parent, and simultaneously entertaining the notion that Life will still offer you opportunities to have some \u201cquiet time\u201d every day,\u00a0forget about it<\/em>!\u00a0 At least for the first 4-5 years of your child, it\u2019s going to be all about your child.\u00a0 No, really.\u00a0 Get used to the idea, and you\u2019ll do just fine.<\/p>\n

And yes, in case you\u2019re wondering, it\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>worth the effort!<\/p>\n

4. What a child doesn\u2019t receive he can seldom later give. \u00a0– P.D. James<\/em><\/p>\n

Your children will do as you do, not as you say.\u00a0 So, the best thing you can do for them is lead by example. \u00a0Sometimes, that also means apologizing to\u00a0them<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you think you can simply instruct them to live life a certain way, while you continue to do the opposite, you\u2019re in for a big surprise!<\/p>\n

5. The trouble with being a parent is that by the time you are experienced, you are unemployed. \u00a0– Author Unknown<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s true.\u00a0 No matter how much you prepare for it, you\u2019re never going to be\u00a0fully\u00a0<\/em>prepared for what is going to unfold in your life as a parent.\u00a0 So, the sooner you learn to relax and only sweat the essentials, the happier you\u2019ll be as a family<\/p>\n

More to come…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fellow mommy blogger posted an interesting piece entitled “Five things motherhood\/parenthood has taught me“, and tagged me in it.\u00a0 I thought it was a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-better-parenting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}