20. Little Miss Mischief

Over the last few months our little miss Alexander’s reach has grown considerably. Up on her toes, she has now conquered territories that earlier seemed safe. She has even learned to climb up the sofa and crawl under the sofa. It is difficult to match her energy and keep pace with her the entire day. Her special knack to get into things she should not get into, and out of things she should not get out of makes live even more adventurous. She walked few steps independently for few days till she fell badly. Since then she has added some extra caution to relentless spirit. Trying to walk and fall has become a part of her, which surprisingly is less scary than it looks. Though tough, we try not to overreact and make her afraid. 

Infact, I have seen parents doing worse. They make the baby hit the floor where the baby falls teaching the baby to be violent and blame someone else for her own fault. Rise and fall are part of life, and this is the best time she learns to develop the sportsman spirit. No matter how much we feel otherwise, a parent’s duty is not to protect but to teach how the child can protect herself. And it is best done by not interfering too much with the child’s exploration.

This is also the time when she is starting to understand right from wrong. Though it isn’t a good idea to interfere too much, it is a good time to tell her what is right from what is wrong. Though she has limited memory, perseverance and consistency with what she should not touch or do makes her eventually understand. It has kept my office laptop and mobile phone safe so far. However, we try to avoid policing and do allow her the flexibility of making mistakes. Also a hug and kiss is a good way to reward her good behaviors or corrections of mistakes than bashing. We try to make her realize that she will be loved even after she does a mistake. Mistakes aren’t bad, it is something we learn from.

Like her parents, she also loves to travel. She is in fact the most energetic amongst all of us. She was so happy when we recently went to Ajanta, Ellora caves and Mahabaleshwar. What she loved the most was when we chimed the Western Ghats as rain poured down on us. She has already been to five states, not bad for a ten months baby.