In every stage of our kids´development, we encounter different challenges and different milestones. And even if we can count on the experiences and moral support of other parents, friends and family, we know that every child is unique and what works well for John may not apply to Paul but it does not mean that John is better or vice versa.
Understanding our child´s individuality and our child´s specific needs is crucial in providing him the support system that he will need.
I look back with tears and with gratitude the toddler and pre-school years of my child. He is now 7 years old but during his pre-school and toddler stages, he was very shy, very introverted, he hardly slept. He hardly talked and even if the professionals were attributing being bilingual as the cause of the speech development, we were scared especially when the professionals already advised us to start seeing specialists to rule out any potential problem. Thank you to the mercy, blessing and compassion of our Savior, Lord God. After several laboratories and many medical appointments, it was concluded that there was nothing wrong with my son, it´s just that he took his sweet time to walk, to talk and to sleep comfortably. Hehehe That stage was mentally, emotionally, spiritually draining for us and really thanks to the mercy of Jesus Christ that we survived that stage.
During his preschool years, from 3-5 years old, my son was the only boy in the preschool classes (composed of approximately 95 students in 4 classes) who cried every day going to the school, during the 3 years of preschool. This was also a difficult stage because realizing the importance of school, we wanted him to feel comfortable, at ease in the school environment. We scheduled monthly checkpoint sessions with his teachers so we are aligned; what is taught in the school, we reinforce in our home. As our child is grasping the rudiments of academic learning, we too are learning so much on the resilience and flexibility of our son and on the depths that a parent´s love will go through for his child. We applied teaching fun, interactive teaching techniques to boost my son´s self esteem and confidence. We organized playgroup sessions with his classmates to get to know them.
Now my son is on the 2nd grade of primary school. He is now more extrovert though he has his preferred classmates and playmates, he is a healthy boy (praise God), he is one of the best readers in the class, he is bilingual in English and Spanish turning trilingual with my native language Tagalog hehehe, he is into swimming, judo and basketball, he is an active student and he sleeps now!!! Hahahahaha. What a straight 4 hour of sleep can do to our adult mind and body!! Hahahahah
I know that my husband and I have a long long way to go to our parenting journey. After all, we never stop being children to our parents and our parents never stop being our parents even in our adult years. I will always give my best love, support and understanding to my son so he can be the best version of himself.
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