Happy Writing Marathon #41 | If you could give advice to your self from 10 years ago, what would you say?

I was raising my son who was attending kindergarten.
Honestly, I didn't know how I should raise him.
If I could meet my self from 10 years ago, this is what I would want to say.

You don't have to be the same as everyone else.
It's okay to let him do what he wants to do.

My son was incredibly mischievous.

The moment the teacher looked away,
he would scribble all over a brand-new box of crayons,
covering both the front and back until there was no white space left.

On another day, he would climb the bookshelves,
moving from shelf to shelf like a monkey.

In the sandbox, he kept digging until the bottom was visible,
eventually reaching the concrete.
It seems it was quite a chore for the teacher to fill the hole back in. Haha.

Why did you dig so deep?

When I asked him that, my son said,

I wanted to know what was down there.

Every time something happened, I would apologize to the teacher.

Looking back now, I realize I was desperately trying to stop even the most trivial things.
Stop that, it's dangerous.
You mustn't do that.

But perhaps it was all his energy and talent?
I want to know, I want to try it, I want to do more.

On the day of his graduation ceremony, my son cried harder than anyone else.
Afterward, while reading a picture book at the school,
he said, I don't want to graduate, and wouldn't leave the room.

This prompt brought back that episode, and I felt so much affection for my son.
And I remembered myself, anxious while raising my first child, trying so hard to do it right.


To me from 10 years ago.
It's okay. You are doing a good job raising him.
And one more thing.
You will come to look back on your life and start writing.
The day will come when those writings will warm the hearts of people who have experienced sadness and pain.
Make plenty of mistakes and polish your writing.
Miyuki Iga

Ken Honda, thank you as always for the wonderful prompts.
To all the readers, thank you for the hearts, comments, and for sharing my writing.

Miyuki Iga

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