Parenting Firsts

I realise this year that our many parenting firsts do not end after baby’s first turning over, first crawl, first tooth, first walk etc. After that, we had first walk, first swim, first fall, etc etc. Along the way, we had first smile, first words, and many other firsts. We also had first holidays, first day in kindy, first concert, first test, first school trip without us, first …..

However, this year, we as parents had our many firsts instead. We went to the primary school to register our kid for the first time. We got to know other equally anxious parents doing their first registration too. We had our first school orientation… all in Mandarin as we sat there in awe not understanding a word.

Then we collected our kid’s first report card in primary school. We were nervous when she sat for her first school test, performed at her first piano concert and sat for her first piano exam recently. We were probably more nervous than her worrying that she would be nervous.

At first the firsts we truly enjoyable, the first smile, the first toddler, the first words… But as they grow, the firsts become more and more nerve racking for us. Time flies too and before we know it, we’ll be experiencing their first love, first boyfriend/girl friend, first job, first kid! Help!

Nevertheless, however nerve racking, we love them all. We love all the firsts and we don’t want to miss any firsts at all. We want to be the first to watch and experience the firsts with all our kids because we love them dearly. We wouldn’t miss any firsts, not for anything in the world.