Pay Attention!

Image Source: Getty Images stock / Moms Today

"I want to go because mommy and daddy is not listening to me", said my 4-year old son.  This really caught my attention, ofcourse. 

Earlier, he was trying to convince my husband and I to let him watch videos online.  We allow him to watch only if either one of us can stay with him and screen the videos.  But my husband and I were tied up with a few things to do.  We told our son that he can watch after school the following day and besides, it was almost time to sleep anyway.  

But our son insisted.  We tried to explain and reason out...  but did not succeed.  He was quiet for a time.  After a while, he came up to me and said,  "mommy, you said that after I eat and do my homework I can watch" .  I thought to myself...  I honestly didn't remember saying that... so I tried to talk him out of it once again.  It was then that he said, "tomorrow, after school, I will go.  I will ride the plane because mommy and daddy is not listening to me." 

My husband couldn't exactly remember, but then realized that perhaps he might have been the one who told our son that he can indeed watch after he's done with his homework.

After compromising with our son and admitting to our misunderstanding, he told us that, "I will not ride the plane anymore... but next time listen, ha."

  This is definitely one of those moments I am truly thankful to my son for reminding me to "pay attention!"

Most of the time, we parents become so pre-occupied that we tend to take a lot of things for granted.  Too many worries and cares... too many pressures... focusing too much on unnecessary things.  In the process, we fail to give undivided attention to the things and people that matter most.  

 With so much going on in life, focusing on one thing can be extremely difficult.  But I realized that in spite of our multi-faceted life, it is important to pay undivided attention to the people we care about, most especially our family.

At that time, I wasn't paying much attention to our conversation with our son that it was easy for me to forget what it was that I, or my husband said.  But my son was definitely paying attention.  What may seem unimportant to us, is highly significant to our son.     

Our children pay attention to everything we say and do.    That's why they deserve our undivided attention.  Our lives may be complicated but to our children, we are their life.  Our time may be limited but to them, love is giving time.  Our minds may always be pre-occupied but to our children, our thoughts mean a lot.    

We will probably often think that, "there's not enough time to do everything"... but we most definitely can choose to make time for something and more importantly, for someone.    

Sometimes, it's just better to see life thru the innocent eyes of our children.  This way, we get to pay attention to all the wonderful things around us - most especially those we forget to appreciate - and cherish every moment with the people who matter most in our life.