Milania is a charming and charismatic little girl, unlike me who’s aloof and on guard all the time. I look at her and know that because of her lovely and lovable characteristics her life will be a little easier. Not saying there won’t be backstabbers or tragedy in her life, that will change her sunny disposition, life happens and you have to take the good with the bad. But I sure wish and pray with all my heart that she’ll keep these 4 traits close to her heart and that she’ll never change them.
I love the fact that she sees no colour, and where it’s striking and in contrast with her own she just looks upon it as unique and beautiful. I see it in the play areas of family restaurants like my local Wimpy and Spur, how she plays and interact with different races (since she’s not in school yet) and it makes my heart happy. I don’t want people to discriminate against her tall frame, curly hair and olive skin. I don’t want society to make fun of her Namaqualand accent and overall heritage, so I’m glad that at this point in her life she’s bestowing love with no judgment towards her fellow human beings.
If only we as grownups can be a little braver. Brave enough to start a conversation with a stranger in the shopping aisle. Brave enough to start a new hobby, new exercise routine or even online dating. I know children are brave because they don’t know better in terms of how they can hurt themselves, however most of the time they are quite fine. They are bold, daring and courageous and that’s how they learn. I know that as we mature we learn how to curb our compulsions and desires since some behavior is just not acceptable in the grownup world. However I don’t want to become fearful and passive, I still need adventure in my life. We’re created with a huge amount of inner resilience, therefore, we should never lose our bravery.
I would never want Milania to lose her charming spontaneity, the way she shakes and dance whenever she hears dance music. The way she tells me to “Kom dansce!” in her broken beginners Afrikaans. The way she says “Hello” to strangers in Dischem or at church. I know that as children go through life they constantly hear things like “don’t, stop it or that’s bad” that’s our way of protecting them right? But I don’t want us to altogether create an environment of fright and panic where they see the world as a dangerous place. I know the world currently looks very bleak but there’s still a lot of good as well and we should always remember and hold on to that.
It’s so sad that long-term friendships and families are torn apart because of things that happened in the past. Children don’t carry hatred with them and they definitely don’t think about settling scores. They just forgive and give the person who’ve wronged them a second chance. So if someone close to you admits and show remorse you should give them the benefit of the doubt and start over. Let it go, move along and find peace. Easier said than done, but so worth the try.
What have you learned from your children and isn’t it amazing how we learn from each other? Read about what motherhood taught me thus far in this blogpost.