The Perks of being a Father!

There are few things that give me sustained happiness as my kids. They illuminate my life with light and shower me with unconditional love. My daughter, Viana (6 yr old) can ask questions whole day long and certainly does not stop at 5 whys. My son, Kiaan (3 yr old) is a bouncing ball of energy and helped me experience what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Here are 7 ways in which my kids have humbled me ??

#1. Unconditional Love – The excitement and happiness that Kiaan displays when he sees me when I pick him up from his childminder is so genuine that it warms up my heart and lights up my day. Viana was sick for the last few days and all the other worries in the world became meaningless to me. I was happy to just be with her and read folk stories together. To give unconditional love, we need to experience it. While we all get our share of unconditional love from our parents when we are young, it is a blessing to experience this as an adult from kids.

#2. Health and Fitness – In the last 6 years, I have transformed myself physically by increasing my muscle weight significantly to remain fit and play physically active sports with my kids. Some of my best memories growing up are the badminton sessions I used to have with my parents and I would want to be in the best of health to create such memories with my kids. Kiaan’s favorite play sessions involve a man-to-man rumble in the bronx (bed) and Viana’s favorite play session involves riding on my back simulating an elephant ride. What's more, my kids do a great job of replacing weights for my weight training sessions.

#3. Lead by Example – Kids learn more through observation and hence it becomes imperative to set the right example for them. I have become more disciplined and conscious about what behaviors I display in front of kids. For any potentially grey decision I need to make, I subconsciously consider if I would be happy with my kids observing and learning from me.

#4. Stories and Storytelling – Viana love stories. I used to love stories until at some point in life, pragmaticism took over and I replaced fiction with non-fiction. After rediscovering my love for stories and storytelling with Viana, I have changed the mix of fiction and non-fiction back to 50:50. Nothing can beat the joy of traveling to faraway lands through the vivid imagination sparked by books.

#5. Relearning Fundamentals – Viana is as curious as a cat. She can ask questions all day long without tiring. To explain things to her, I had to relearn / revisit many of the fundamentals which I learnt early in school but forgot conveniently. More importantly, to explain things to kids in a language they understand, it is important to relate concepts to the things that my kids understand. This forces me to think of analogies that deepen my own understanding of the concept.

#6. Art of Persuasion – Kids can be very persuasive when they need something. They remind me that logical reasoning is not necessarily the only or even the best way to persuade someone. They teach me the importance of being likeable (cute in their case) and putting their earned goodwill to use (chores earning them brownie points – Kiaan makes it a point to highlight how he earned credits by taking his bath on time).

#7. Value of Time – Kids remind me that my time is precious for 2 angels on earth. My kids yearn for my time and hence every time I choose to spend my time elsewhere, I keep a high bar for the way I am using my time. This has boosted my productivity at work and made me way more efficient in how I organize and prioritize my work. ?

This is not to say that all is hunky dory with kids. They demand my time and I find it hard to find “me-time” or even “time with my partner” when kids are competing for the same time slot. However the boundless joy of having kids far exceeds the time tradeoff. I am blessed with a loving supportive family. The best decision I made in my life was undoubtedly to have Viana and Kiaan with my ever-supportive, effortlessly brilliant Aina Raj !