Parenting is picture perfect in moments- perfect smiles, adventurous plays, happy meal times, exciting story sessions!
And then parenting is hard in these times. Hard when your little one falls and gets that bruise that really hurts, cuts that bleed. Hard when your little ones eyes swell up with tears because another kid told them they will not play with them. Hard when your little one is unable to articulate why they are upset and they have their melt downs. But parenting is hardest when your little one is ill.
For the uninitiated, for the initiated and for the seasoned parents...this is what parenting actually looks like. Consecutive sleepless nights, your resilient little human being having that nasty bout of cough, recurring fever, needing that superhero mask which promises her strength and yet fails to deliver. When she during the course of nebulization tells you that the heartbeat monitor is her wand and swishes her index finger to let the magic happen. When she wakes up coughing tells you her chest hurts, when she is sleeping on your chest most of the night and you can hear that little heart beating rapidly, when she tells Dida that she wants only 'garram pani'. When she is sitting and wanting to sleep the next moment because she is so exhausted of all the coughing. And yet amidst that moment, sitting in the hospital lobby, she tells Papa she is 'Strong Ira'. This is the moment when Papa and Mamma wish they are as strong as Ira.
Strong Ira, Precious moments
This is what parenting looks like - vulnerable, lost, painful, desperate...hopeful. As we get her to wear her superhero mask again, I write this. I write to also share a hard moment- when I have dropped the medicine, poked myself with a syringe and have had hands shaking trying to get the medicine in place for nebulization. Can't help but feel like a loser. I know I should cut myself some slack but for that moment, this is exactly how I felt. Yes, parenting is hard and we parents are also hard on ourselves. Ira after few days of fighting the bug is now on antibiotics and on the mend slowly.I write this hoping our little human being regains her strength and has her superhero moments soon.
#Parenting #Ira #Iraisms #TalesAtFour #Gratitude #Hope #IraIsOurSuperhero #IraAtFour #SuperheroMask
