Mom, Slow Down, I’m Not A Child Forever!
Mom, slow down. Not everything has to be always perfect for me. Not every meal we have in common needs to be flawless. You don’t have to sacrifice all the happy moments in your life for my every whim.
I’m happy when I get to jump in mud puddles and get my clothes dirty. That’s what spending a childhood is all about.
Mom, you don’t always have to be the first to arrive at the school gates after school day. I want you to be happy and happy too. I don’t want you to feel repressed. I want you to take the time for yourself too. And most of all, I just want you to bend over to me and tell me you love me, a happy smile on your face!
Tell me every day how much you love me. It will only take you five seconds, but I will remember those moments for the rest of my life, I can assure you. Those memories will comfort me when I feel sad and the days feel very gloomy. Then Mom will remember your words, and a smile on your face.
I also want you to help me understand that I should not define myself by my mistakes or achievements, for I am only human. So each of my future achievements will first require several mistakes.
Mom, slow down
I don’t want a perfectly ironed shirt mom, but I want you to wrinkle it over and over again with your hugs. I want you to make me feel really important, because that’s all that matters, not how nicely our home is decorated.
Don’t watch me play outside and at the same time worry about how I’m going to get my clothes dirty. I just miss itches and kisses, and I don’t care about dirt! I want to share with you all my secrets, my happy moments, my main hiding places, my scariest fairy tales and come up with two games together with you!
I want you to understand that what matters to me is not how many toys I own, but how I learn to play with them, and how much I enjoy our moments of playing together. I want to feel your loving gaze and understanding, and I want to know that I always have the right to feel, the right to keep my mouth clean, and the right to act.
I need to know that my feelings make sense. I need to get your approval, even when I’m in trouble. And never forget Mom: when I do something wrong, that’s when I need you more than anyone else in the world.
Don’t push me away from you, and don’t tell me I’m naughty. Remember that I will hear those words in my head over and over again, like an echo. Be patient with me mom, and take the time to explain to me that there are things that can make me sad, or that can hurt me.
Quite true mom. Over time, I too will understand things more, but right now I need you to explain things to me. Let’s enjoy my childhood together and hug every day! It keeps me on the road in my life when my hand is no longer held in your hand.
Be flexible with me and let me be experimental
Even though we should have eaten vegetables today, I might want to bake you a cake: I want to learn how to beat eggs and flour, and then I want to watch the scenery together with you from our roof. I want to share that landscape and the whole world with you, from your perspective, just like you do when you come down to the floor to play with me. I love those moments!
Mom, relax a little and think. I know you have a lot to do, but try to understand that you too can still slow down because I am not a child forever. Spend time with me, and don’t try to control everything because it’s impossible.
The most amazing things in life happen unexpectedly. So lower your firewall. Sometimes dinner is only eaten at half past seven, and not exactly at six o’clock! That’s when you teach me that the most important thing in life is not schedules and that sometimes even counters have to wait.
We can hug in one bed, laugh out loud and talk about anything that comes to mind. We can spend memorable moments together. It is your love that makes me grow big and strong. Your unique maternal love is what makes my childhood so wonderful.
But if you never allow me to play in the mud or catch bugs, if I never get a chance to tell you my secrets or stop to pick you flowers in the middle of a trip, my childhood will lose some of its magic and purpose.
Mom, slow down: we’re in no hurry for anything. I know you’re in a hurry, but together we could keep things simple and fun. Let me between you cry, laugh, let my imagination run wild and let me explore this great and wonderful world!
Never be afraid of mom, and don’t feel overwhelmed. For always remember that a single hug from you makes my whole world enlightened. There is nothing more important to me in the world than to be near you every single day, and so I feel like I am growing my own roots in this world.
