Having a daughter has changed my life forever and taught me soooo many valuable life lessons. She has taught (or forced) me how to wake up even if I don’t want to. Turned me into a self-proclaimed chef. Propelled me to do several things at the same time without me noticing it.

The Most Valuable Life Lessons

But aside from the lifestyle changes having a baby has exposed me to, I admit having her in my life made me contemplate my views about the world.

Her simple and innocent ways of looking at things opened my eyes to five valuable life lessons I have been missing.

5 Valuable Life Lessons To Learn from a Child

1. Nothing is permanent.

The first of the 5 valuable life lessons to learn from a child is that really, nothing is permanent. It has always amused me how my daughter cries now then laughs hysterically the next minute. Other times, it’s the other way around.

I ask myself, “How can she do it?”

Being an adult, it has become my habit to cry over a broken china for a day or two or laugh at my favorite show for hours and hours.

While I don’t see anything wrong with that, I realized that I cannot hold on to something for so long. My happiness today may be my sorrow the next day. And what annoys me now may be my source of pride in the long run.

Well, it may not always be the case, but my point here is, we should embrace and be ready for change.

Don’t hold on to something for too long. Laugh when it’s there; cry when it’s not. Then be ready to start over.

2. Experience is the best teacher.

I have tried hard to protect my child from getting hurt. I do this by telling her not to touch certain things or go near specific spaces and other disciplining methods I can think of.

But time and again, I hear her shriek suddenly only to find out she touched the hot cup of coffee on the table I told her not to go near to. Or cry because she dropped her food after telling her not to walk while eating.

As time went by, however, I realized that she stopped doing the things she has proven and tested to be painful. Whenever she sees a cup on the table, she asks me first if it’s hot or not. She has also tried to stay in one place while eating so as not to drop any of her favorite snacks on the floor.

I don’t mean that you should always let your kids do things on their own just for them to learn a lesson. But, with proper guidance, it is alright to let them wander and learn on their own.

And we, adults, should also learn to let our guard down sometimes. We will never know how deep the ocean is if we just keep on looking at the surface. It may hurt us when we jump, but as the song goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

3. Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat.

It is a child’s nature to ask about things that are going on around.

“What’s that?” “What are you doing?” and “Why?” are three of the most common questions my daughter would ask me.

Most of the time, I give her the most simplified explanation, a.k.a white lies, to cut the conversation short. Like when she asked me why was I crying after feeling so down and blue. I couldn’t tell her the real reason behind my tears, so I just told her my eyes hurt.

But there was a time her being inquisitive actually saved our lives. We were walking along the road one day when she asked me, “What’s that?” I didn’t look at where she’s pointing to, so I just said, “I don’t know.”

She didn’t stop asking until I finally looked at it and realized we were headed to a burning house. The smoke was heavy but it was all going upwards and I was looking downwards so I didn’t notice it. I thought the clouds were just dark that day.

Being nosy is irritating. But I guess it doesn’t hurt once in a while to stop and ask our neighbors how they are doing.

4. Everything is awesome.

“Yey!” she squealed with excitement. I turned around to see what she was so excited about only to find out it was the paper coming out of the printer. I was printing my reports that day.

I laughed at her shallow happiness.

But days went by and I saw her laughing at a falling leaf that got stuck in her hair. Something that would probably annoy me. I heard her mimic our neighbour’s dog that wouldn’t stop barking, which already became irritating. Then she would laugh at the sound of her voice.

I’ve seen her grin, smile, and laugh at countless frivolous things. Then it hit me—happiness is everywhere. We just have to open our senses a bit and we’ll feel it surrounding us 24/7.

5. You don’t get what you dream of, you get what you work hard for.

The last of the 5 valuable life lessons to learn from a child is a funny one too. My toddler pretty much knows what she wants so she doesn’t stop until she gets it.

Does she want the cookie in the jar? She will keep her toys or “sweep” the floor in exchange.  Does she want to get her ball on top of the desk? She will stack up pillows or books until she gets it.

She knows that merely looking at the object of her desire won’t be enough. She can either ask me to get it for her or get it by herself.

Either way, it still shows that we have to do something to get what we want.

We all know raising our kids is both fun and hard work. You always have to balance love and discipline. But you know what makes it even more worth it? We have so many valuable life lessons to learn. All we have to do is slow down and look at the world through our children’s eyes.

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