The Irreversible Time of Parenting: The Radiance of Life Here and Now

Parenting time is something that

when you look back on it,
passes by in the blink of an eye, doesn't it?

But at the time,

every day flows by as if it were natural,
and it's easy to overlook.

However,

I believe that each and every moment
is truly irreplaceable.



When my daughter was in kindergarten,

while watching TV in the living room,
she would sometimes glance over at me in the kitchen.

I was cooking in an open-plan kitchen,
and one day,

while I was holding a frying pan,

I looked like I was struggling with the weight.
Seeing that,

my daughter rushed over,

and gently held the handle of the frying pan for me.
Another time,



when I was cutting onions

and tears were streaming down my face,
my daughter noticed,

quickly grabbed a couple of tissues,

rushed over to me,
and gently wiped my tears away.

In both cases,



I hadn't taught her to do those things.

But,

in those moments,

she acted naturally.

At that time,



I suddenly thought,

perhaps children are not beings we need to instill things into,

but beings who are remembering what they already possess.

Kindness and compassion

are not things we give them,
but things that are already within them,



and when the right moment comes,

they naturally overflow.

That is how I felt.

Therefore,
there is no need to force them to learn.

There is no need to rush their growth.



Just

trust in what is inside them,

and watch over them.

I believe that is what is important.

The time spent with children
is not preparation for the future,

but something that exists "here and now."



Today's smiles,

today's conversations,

and today's little events

are precious moments
that exist only in that instant.
On Mother's Day,

my daughter, without me knowing,
rode her bike for an hour



to go look for a present for me.

The cake shop she wanted to go to was closed,
so she bought bread at another shop,

and chose some sweets at a tea shop,

and in her own elementary school way,

she spent that time thinking hard about
"what would make Mom happy?"

More than the gift itself,
that time
was the greatest treasure for me.



Parenting time

cannot be rewound later.
That is precisely why



I want to cherish

this very moment.

Children are beings

who are remembering what is within them.
And we are the ones



who trust in that,

and gently watch over them.
The time here and now

is the radiance of life

that will never return.