"I love you 0th, Mom!!" What my daughter's words taught me

While raising three children,
I am Miccho, working part-time at a public junior high school.

My mission is to
listen, discover, put into words, and take action.

This happened yesterday while I was talking with my daughter.

Suddenly,

"I love you 0th, Mom💓💓"

she said.

"Huh? Aren't I number one?"

When I asked,

"Mom is before number one."

she replied.

When I asked who number one was then,

"Dad"

Who is second?

"My little brother"

Who is third?

"My big brother"

she said.

The morning after we had that conversation.

My daughter, who isn't a morning person,
gets very emotional when things don't go the way she wants.

She couldn't write her hiragana homework well.

She can't even do her kanji practice sheets the way she wants to.

Frustrated, she scribbles all over them,

"Mom, erase this!"

she cries out while sobbing.

But on the other hand,

when she folds origami well,

"Mom, look!"

when something happy happens,

"Mom, listen to my story!"

even when putting on her socks,

"Watch me from right there, okay?"

she says.

It's just putting on socks, but she seems to want me to watch until the very end😅

That morning, for some reason, I had a little extra time.

Even when my younger child called for me,

"Wait just a moment," I said,

and I was able to sit right next to my daughter and wait patiently.

And then it suddenly occurred to me.

Ah, maybe this is what "loving someone 0th best" really means.

It's not that she wants me to do anything special.

I want you to see what I did well.

I want you to be by my side when I fail.

I just want you to look at me.

I realized that “number zero” meant exactly that!!
It all made sense!!

Of course, in reality, every day is a whirlwind.

“Not now!”

“Later!”

There are days when I end up saying things like that🙏🙏

Even though I truly want to have more patience,
sometimes things just don't go that way😅😅
(Lots of mother-daughter battles!)

Even so,
the time my daughter spends asking me to “look” and “listen” is surely only for now.

Someday, she will spend more time with friends than with her parents,
and my turn will likely become less frequent.

That is exactly why I want to cherish this time that only exists now.

“Mom, I love you number zero”

It was a morning where my daughter’s words made me realize that all over again.

#MotherOfThree #Parenting #FirstGradeGirl #ShortenedWorkHours #WorkingMom #ParentChildTime #ChildrensWords #ParentingDiary #TimeThatOnlyExistsNow #ListenFindAndPutIntoWords #DailyNoteUpdate #FamilyTime