Like a sponge

One of the most amazing aspects of young children is how receptive they are. This offers both great opportunities and great responsibilities to their parents.

Some time ago Natalie had a stomach virus which made her vomit. After the first time she threw up, my wife and I offered her some water. Unfortunately that made her throw up again. So my wife told her that she should not drink too much, just a little. Natalie took it to heart and refused to drink for the next 24 hours. During that time she vomited for the third time and so we got concerned about her becoming dehydrated. My wife (who is a nurse) took her to the ER and Natalie got an IV. The next day she still did not want to drink. Gradually we were able to convince her she'd eat some apple sauce and yoghurt. And finally, at the end of the second day, she had a normal dinner. At that time we realized that it was us who had caused the problem. We had told her so strongly to not drink too much that she decided not to drink at all. It also made us realize how big our responsibility is. Every word we say affects her, every day.

Sometimes this leads to situations that are really funny (for us parents at least). We, like many parents nowadays, punish Natalie by giving her a timeout (one minute per year of age). This happens for instance if she steals a toy from her younger brother. When Natalie plays with her dolls, we hear she gives them timeouts as well. When we ask why they got one, it's always because of a reason we gave Natalie a timeout. Just like a sponge, but much more intelligent.

That's my daughter

My wife bought a CD for me (the soundtrack to Knocked Up) that carries the song "Daughter." Natalie and I like to dance on it. That is, I do most of the dancing: I hold her in my arms, she embraces me, her head on my shoulder. She can't sit on my lap for more than a few seconds (unless I read a story to her), but when we dance, she melts and does not move. That's my daughter.