I surveyed when children are at their cutest, and I ended up crying a little

Sorry for suddenly shouting. I am raising a baby who will soon be 6 months old, and since they are updating their cuteness every day, I am worried that I might eventually turn into 'light'.

Are they really free of charge even though they are this cute?

But wait a minute, how long will this cuteness last? Isn't now the peak? One day, will a banner suddenly pop up saying, 'The rest of this content is for paid members only'???

Feeling anxious, I decided to rely on the big, big internet. So, I posted a tweet like the following (classy).

Then, to my surprise, I received responses from66parenting warriors. Thank you so much during this busiest time of the year. I offer mental Yoku Moku cookies to everyone.

So, let's take a look at the results of this survey! Here we go! Ready, set! Survey results, stare-down samurai~~~~! (A chant nobody knows)

Let's look at the survey results

I conducted the survey in this format.

I decided to set the cutoff around elementary school entrance, and thought I would have people select 'Other' for anything after that, so I used the options above.

Here are the results you've been waiting for!!!

Votes were cast evenly across all options, but '1 to 2 years old' was particularly high. This was followed by 'Other' and '2 to 3 years old'. Congratulations to everyone in the 1 to 2 years old category (?)

And what caught my eye this time was the 15 votes for 'Other'. I will introduce the comments I received from those who chose 'Other'.

Everyone~~~~~!!!!!

Did you hear that!?!?!?!

They say they are always cute~~~~~!!!!!!!!!

I had convinced myself that there was a time when a child clearly switches from being a cute existence to one that isn't. For example, I thought that once they hit their rebellious phase, they would become an existence that isn't cute, or rather, something annoying, and they would become a completely different creature from when they were a baby.

That's why my anxiety that 'maybe this super-dazzling time is only for now...?' was growing. My child, who doesn't talk yet, doesn't say selfish or cheeky things, and can't run, so there's no danger. I was worried that now is the peak of their cuteness, and as they grow up, interacting with them will become more and more of a hassle.

This is the best result to blow away my tiny anxieties. I'm sure that even those who voted for something other than 'Other' added the preface 'They are always cute, but if I had to choose,' and voted while understanding my intent (in fact, several people commented exactly that on Twitter).

Seeing these results made me realize something obvious: 'I see, no matter how old they get, they will always be my children.' Once again, thank you so much to everyone who voted.

Asking my mother

I also asked my mother, the closest parenting expert I know who raised three daughters, via LINE.

I ended up crying.

I had completely forgotten that I am also her 'child'.

I had assumed that by giving birth, my role had shifted to 'parent' and I would never be a child again.

But to my mother, I will always be the youngest of the three sisters. From the moment I let out my first cry, the day I first stood up, the day I played Swimmy in the kindergarten play, the day I cried because I didn't want to go to swimming lessons, the day I failed at my middle school club tournament, the day I passed my entrance exams, the day I gave my parents a trip with my first paycheck, the day I left home to live alone, the day I announced my marriage—all of those moments are connected in a continuous line, and I realized that is why I am the mother I am today.

Right now, I can't help but find my six-month-old baby adorable. But even 20 years from now when they reach adulthood, or 30 years from now when they've become a bit of a middle-aged person, the love I have for my child will continue, just in a different form. I'm so excited to see what that form will look like—so much so that I can shamelessly say 'love changes its form,' a phrase you usually only hear in J-pop.

I also know that having a parent who treats you with such love forever is by no means something to be taken for granted. Touching upon the love between parent and child from the 66 people who answered the survey, not just my mother's, left me feeling incredibly warm.

And so, I made a resolution to continue pouring love into my own child from here on out.

That was the story of how I took a survey out of simple curiosity and ended up crying over a love much greater than I had imagined.

The End

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↓ A song that makes me cry every time I listen to it

[Song of the Day] A・I・A・O・U / MONONO AWARE